Sailor Moon Meets Dragon Ball Z
by Mo-chan769
Summary: Lame title, yes. But it's subject to change. Basically a rewrite of the entire Buu saga and the episodes leading up to it. Rini, daughter to Sailor Moon, meets Gohan, son of Goku, after having to transfer schools due to Darien's job transfer. Please R R!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey everyone! It's been forever since I've written a DBZ/SM crossover, let alone a fanfiction! I recently looked up fanfictions with said crossover and I gotta say that I'm disappointed at the lack of RinixGohan pairings. So I decided to try my luck at this after years on hiatus.

A brief synopsis: This takes place about 20 years after the scouts fought Galaxia and during the time that Gohan is at Orange Star High. In fact, I'm considering at this point on modifying the entire Buu Saga. XD But that's if I can stick to it long enough. Anyway, since it's so long after the fight with Galaxia, the scouts have been living pretty peacefully and have become less than common knowledge on Earth.

Chapter 1

Stepping out of the shower, she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her soaked body. She snatched a second towel from where it hung on the wall hook and began to dry her hair with it. Of course, towels hardly ever got the job done on hair as long as hers. She would have to blow dry it as well. Once she finished with that, she began to dab up water droplets left on her body with the first towel, only pausing for a moment to steal a glance in the mirror. She almost blushed with pride at how her body had grown in the last few years. It was what she'd always dreamed of when she was little: fuller breasts, longer legs, and narrow waist. And her hair was as long as her mother's, though it was a cotton candy pink instead of blonde.

She pulled on a pair of tan khakis and a shirt striped alternatively with pink, tan, and white. Then she pinned a button with an orange star inside a dark green circle to her shirt. Something she wasn't used to was not having a uniform for school. There was no bow on her shirt to attach her transformation brooch. But she settled with just putting it in her schoolbag for now.

She'd just moved to this city with her parents, due to her father's job. Darien was a doctor, and could work just about anywhere that there was a need for doctors. He'd been recommended for a position at a big hospital in this city. It wasn't exactly far away from her old home, but it wasn't really close either. She would miss Hotaru and all the other sailor scouts. She wouldn't be able to see them as much anymore. Though they all promised to visit their queen and her family at least once a month. Setsuna had even agreed to move to the city… and that would mean that the outer scouts were likely to follow soon. But until that time came, Rini would have to adapt to her new life away from sailor scouts.

Rini turned the blow dryer off when she finished drying her hair at last and then proceed to put it up in her trademark style of cone-shaped meatballs. She then walked out of her rather large bathroom and down the hallway, passing many portraits her parents had put up as soon as the moving boxes were unpacked. Their new home was one of those large, modern apartments. And her dad's taste in decorating was adequate, though her mom's love of the color pink was also seen here and there with pillows or a lampshade.

"Good morning, Rini." Serena's voice sang as she saw her daughter walk into the kitchen. She may have been many close to twenty years older than when she had beaten Galaxia and Chaos Seed, but she looked only about five years older. Her bright blue eyes still glistened with love for her family and friends. The queen took a bite of the breakfast she'd prepared herself. She'd made pancakes that Rini guessed were supposed to be shaped like hearts, though they looked more like the shape that someone makes throwing soft clay at a wall. Rini giggled at her pancakes and sat down.

"Good morning, Mom. Have trouble shaping them again?" She smiled at her food. She saw her mother's face redden slightly. Rini knew that her mother was aware that her cooking wasn't the best. But at least she tried.

"They taste good though." Darien interjected as he walked into the room to grab a filled coffee mug from the counter. "And her cooking is definitely better than when we were younger. Trust me." He winked at his daughter and then moved to Serena's side to plant a kiss on her cheek. He carried his briefcase just like he had carried his school bag years ago, over one shoulder.

"Have a good day at work, Honey." Serena smiled and gave him a cheek kiss in return. Rini always admired her mother most when her parents were together. It inspired her to believe that old saying that a woman is most beautiful when she is in love. The way her mother and father looked each other in the eyes was all that Rini needed to be inspired in dreaming of the day she would have someone to be beautiful for.

"I will try. I've got a surgery in about three hours but I'll try to get through it. Rini, you start at Orange Star High today, don't you?" Darien looked at his daughter now. Rini answered him between bites of her breakfast.

"Yes, I do. That's why I'm awake at this time." Serena giggled at this. Rini may not be half as lazy her mother, but when it came to sleep, the young princess loved it. "And don't worry about me getting there on time. I know where it is. I made a point to find it before my first day unlike last time." She referred to when she'd started high school back home. She was excited for her first day but had forgotten to map out a way to walk there in the morning. So she'd ended up being late for class.

"Just be careful in town, I've heard there been a high rise in the crime rate around here lately." Darien gave his daughter a warning glance.

"If I need to, I'll transform and moon blast the offender to prison." Rini smiled and winked at her father. Serena sighed.

"Well, if you don't want my outstanding record of being late for school then you ought to be on your way. School starts in thirty minutes." Rini looked at the clock and then squealed.

"Oh my god, no!" She jumped up and grabbed her backpack from the table in the living room. The next thing her parents heard was the door slamming. They looked at one another and shared a laugh at the expense of their daughter.

"She's definitely her mother's daughter." Darien said before giving his wife one more kiss and heading out the door. Serena nodded in agreement.

Rini's pink hair flew behind her as she dashed down the sidewalk. She muttered to herself as she ran. "I don't want to be late on my first day! Why did I take such a long shower?" She'd run about six blocks at this time and fifteen minutes had passed, according to her watch (designed to look just like Luna P). As she came around the next corner, she saw something that surprised her.

It looked like a bank robbery was in progress. There were many police cars parked outside of a building with an arched entrance. A sign on the arch above the double doorway read "BANK". From what Rini could see, there were men with guns at the windows and there were hostages behind them. Rini slowed her run as she approached and then pondered for a minute. _I won't feel bad about being late if I saved some lives, I guess._ She then made a mad dash behind a car on the opposite side of the street from the bank.

Careful to make sure nobody was watching, Rini dug out her brooch from her bag and said the magic words. "Pink Moon Crystal Power!" Her day clothes were suddenly replaced with the classic sailor scout uniform. Her skirt was pink, as was the collar. The bows on her chest and on the back of her skirt were red and the brooch she'd pulled out now dawned her uniform, right on the center of her chest. On the front of her cone-shaped meatballs were rounded hair clips, each with a small feather adornment of some kind, and her feet were now covered by pink knee high boots instead of the sneakers she'd worn earlier. She also had long white gloves with pink on the edges and she wore a pink choker necklace that had a small crescent moon on it. A golden tiara with a pink circular gem was on her forehead. And to finish it all off, she had a white mask similar to her father's old mask to cover her eyes and part of her face.

Rini ran out from behind the car and up to the nearest cop.

"Excuse me, what's the situation here?" Her tone demanded respect in the most urgent of ways.

"There are about five guys in there packing guns and explosives. And they have the staff held as hostages. They say if any cops try to stop them, they'll start shooting the hostages." The officer told her before taking his eyes away from the scene. "Who are you?"

"I'm Sailor Mini Moon, heiress to the champion of justice." Rini had decided that would be her speech to introduce herself.

"Sailor Moon has been gone from our lives for years now; you expect me to just believe you?" This man was obviously older than Rini had initially thought if he could remember Sailor Moon.

"Well, yes." Rini was at a loss for what else to say and then shook her head. It didn't matter if the cops didn't believe her. What does matter is getting the hostages out of there safely. Rini began to step forward and went up to the door, miraculously without being gunned down by the robbers.

"The cops are sendin' a little girl in here! Hahaha! Are they nuts?" She heard a man at the door laugh. She growled under her breath and then walked through the door.

"And just what is a little girl going to do? Dance for us? Or maybe she'll say something like the cops gave up and want to trade her for the hostages!" A second robber added to what the other one had said. The two laughed at the motionless girl, but only for an instant before she inhaled a deep breath and held out her hand. A wand, much like her mother's crescent mood wand, though the crystal was pink, materialized in her once-empty hand.

"Pink Moon Therapy Kiss!" A bright light erupted from her wand and hit the two men, simultaneously knocking them out. "That'll teach you to laugh at me!" She felt a little better after she'd shouted that and moved to the next guy who had been trying to aim at her with his gun, but had been trembling a bit much to do so.

Rini ran at him and kicked his gun directly from his hands, then bashed him over the head with her wand. Not the most routine way of doing things, but she found it to be effective because he had fallen over. Many of the hostages in the room were cheering for her by now. But two men remained. One held what looked like a rocket launcher. And it appeared he had locked on to a target. Rini swallowed nervously a moment before he fired.

The first reaction Rini had was to scream, but then she thought she should move out of the way. By the time she thought that she had already been moved by something. It felt like someone was carrying her. Her eyes fluttered for a moment and then she looked at the man who had lifted her and moved her across the room in about half a second.

She saw an orange, black and white helmet with a black visor and antennas. Then he gently placed her on the floor again and she got a full view of his outfit. It looked like a black body suit made of spandex that was covered by a green tunic, a red cape, and other various items like gloves, boots and a belt.

"Are you alright, Miss?" It sounded to Rini like he was purposely speaking in a heroic voice, like when children tried to imitate the voices of superheroes they see on television. She wasn't sure whether to laugh or question his status as a hero. Before reaching a conclusion, Rini brought herself back to the reality of the situation. Part of the bank had just blown up. The hostages were still alive. And there were still two robbers left conscious.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thanks." Rini said quickly and then turned her attention back to the robber with the rocket launcher. He was in the process of aiming a second rocket. The man in the ridiculous costume looked toward the man too.

"I'll take care of him; you can take the other guy."

Rini nodded and then her new helper seemed to disappear and reappear instantaneously next to the man with the rocket launcher. What speed! Rini focused on her current foe and noticed that this man didn't have a gun, but a knife. She smirked and let her wand dematerialized. Then she moved her hand to her forehead, removing her tiara. This made it turn into a disc of golden light and she threw it at him. "Moon Tiara Magic!" It hit the man square on the jaw and he lost his focus long enough for Rini to catch her tiara, replace the tiara on her forehead, dash at him and take out his ankles with a slide. Once he fell to the floor, dropping his knife, Rini stood up quickly and stood firmly on his back with one of her heeled boots.

"Now, what are we going to do?" She asked him with an almost menacing tone. She liked to scare the baddies just a little bit before turning them in.

"We're going give up and go quietly to the police." The final robber was almost at a loss for words.

"Very good." Rini smiled.

The other young hero that had helped Rini earlier had signaled the police to enter the building and they began tying up all the robbers and releasing the hostages. Rini glanced at the man that had had the rocket launcher; he was out cold. Whoever her helper was, regardless how he was dressed, he was good at what did. As the police were finishing up with tying down all the would-be robbers, Rini walked over to the other costumed hero.

"Hey you, thanks for helping me." Rini smiled and held out a hand in a friendly gesture. The man seemed caught off guard for a moment before realizing that she was offering a handshake. He took hold of her hand and shook.

"Of course, Miss. Anytime. What name may I address you by?" He kept up with his superhero toned voice.

"You can call me Sailor Mini Moon." Rini returned her hand to her side once their handshake ended. "What can I call you?"

"You can call me Great Saiyaman!" The young man did a strange pose as he spoke. Rini stared for a moment and then giggled. She could see a small amount of red on his cheeks at the bottom edge of his visor and then she stopped herself and smiled at him.

"Sorry, I shouldn't laugh. That was rude of me. Got it, Saiyaman. Well, I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of each other in the near future. Now I've got to be on my way. See you around." Rini winked behind her mask and dashed off down the street. She made sure nobody was looking once she rounded the corner and then her sailor scout uniform disappeared to be replaced with her day clothes again.

She had a smile stuck on her face until her watch beeped at her. She looked at it and then screamed. "Oh no! I'm so late!" She started running to school again.

The Great Saiyaman watched the strange pink-haired sailor girl ran off down the street. He could easily follow her and find out who she was. But he respected that she had a secret identity just like he did. And it was likely that she had good reasons for keeping it secret.

Gohan stood in place for a few moments until he observed that the police could handle the clean up without his assistance. And Videl would likely show up soon and become enraged at seeing that she'd been beaten to the scene yet again by Saiyaman. He nodded to himself as if to confirm that his thoughts were probably very accurate. Gohan glanced at his watch on his left wrist. _Oh my, gosh! I'm late again! I've got to split—and fast, if I plan on not missing first period today!_

With that, Saiyaman took flight. Once he was high enough in the sky, he tapped a button on his watch and his superhero costume disappeared. He wore his red pants, white long-sleeved shirt and black vest with his school's button pinned on it. His short black hair was pushed back as he flew at top speed toward his school's roof. _That girl…Sailor Mini Moon… she was something. Granted she needed help, she did a pretty good job on those first three robbers. I wonder what her story is and why I've never heard of her before. Maybe I'll ask Bulma about it after school. She seems to be in the know._

Gohan landed lightly on the school roof and ran down the staircase with his school bag in occasionally hitting his side. He knew he would get in trouble with the teacher for being late again… but what could he do? He was a superhero, and as long as he saved lives then he didn't feel as bad about being late.

Rini ran into the classroom, panting. When she stopped, she rested her hands on her slightly bent knees and breathed deeply. Everyone in the class stared at her for the sudden entrance. Not just because she was late, but because she'd gotten there right after someone else that was late. A girl with black hair tied in pigtails looked at Rini with her blue eyes for a few moments and then she went to her seat. The teacher looked to be an older man who was balding. He wore glasses and a semi-formal outfit appropriate for a teacher.

"Are you the new student I'm expecting today?" He asked with a curious tone upon noticing the school's button on her shirt.

"Yes. Sorry I'm so late to class!" Rini bowed her head slightly, allowing some of her hair to overlap in front of her shoulders.

"Don't worry about it. Today is your first day. Just don't make it a habit." The teacher held a finger up at her in warning. Then he cleared his throat and projected his voice to the students. "Everyone, this is Serenity Tsukino. She's the new student I mentioned at the beginning of class. Miss Tsukino, if you please, could you share a little bit about yourself with the class?"

Rini felt her cheeks get a tad warm and started fidgeting with her fingers behind her back. "Hi everyone… I'm Serenity… You can all call me Rini if you would like. I just moved to this city and I hope that I may call a few of you, if not all of you, my friends very soon." Rini allowed her etiquette to take over and even did a tiny curtsy though she wore khakis.

"Well, how very nice of you, Miss Tsukino. Now you can take the empty seat near the back. Behind Gohan, there." Gohan raised his arm instinctively as his attempt to be helpful in showing where her seat was. Rini smiled and nodded, then headed toward the indicated seat without a word.

As Rini sat down, she was greeted by the four people in front of her. One was the girl who had walked in before her, Videl. There was another girl with short blonde hair, Erasa. Then next to her was Gohan, a boy with black hair and the irises of his eyes were almost as dark as his hair. But his overall appearance made him look friendly. And on Gohan's other side sat a boy with long blonde hair, Sharpner. This boy wore a tank top to show off his muscles, obviously. Rini thought he looked a bit narcissistic.

"Hi there, Serenity, nice to meet you. I'm Erasa." The girl with the short blonde hair introduced herself. "This is Videl, Hercule's daughter." She gestured to the girl with the black pigtails. Videl smiled at Rini as an acknowledgement, but she was trying to pay attention to the lesson that the teacher had continued once Rini sat down. Rini returned the smile with a smile of her own.

"I'm Sharpner. You've got nice eyes." Sharpner sounded like he was trying to be the cool guy.

"Thanks, Sharpner." Rini said this mostly so she didn't seem impolite. Some guy flirting with her wasn't the first thing on her mind at the moment.

"Come on, Sharpner. Let her have little time before you throw your moves at her." Gohan said with an almost audible laugh. He pulled his attention from Sharpner and to Rini. "Hi, Rini. I'm Gohan. If you need help with anything, feel free to ask. I was new here not too long ago, so I know what it's like." Gohan offered this with his honest sincerity.

"Oh, thank you. That would help a lot, Gohan." Rini was overjoyed at having someone to show her around. And it helped that it was a cute guy. Though she kept the last part to herself.

Their conversation died down and they started to pay attention to the last bit of the teacher's lecture. After the first class, school seemed to fly by for Rini because she was already starting her walk home.

She walked out of the school with Gohan, Erasa, Videl and Sharpner. Sharpner had been giving Rini compliments all day and Videl had been casting strange glares towards Gohan. Rini wasn't sure what to think of this group yet. She knew that they all seemed nice enough.

"So, Rini, where do you live?" Erasa spoke up suddenly, interrupting the princess's train of thought.

"Huh? Oh, I live in some fancy apartments near the middle of town. I can't remember what they're called…" Rini scratched her head.

"Wow, really?" Erasa seemed surprised. "Those places are so expensive! Your family must be pretty well off! What do your parents do?"

"My father is a doctor. He does well enough for my mother to be a stay-at-home mom." Rini answered. Stay at home mothers weren't that uncommon in Japan.

"A doctor! Cool! So do you know lots of random medical facts?" Erasa seemed to be genuinely interested in Rini's life. It was almost too much for the pink-haired heroine.

"I don't know that much, actually. He tries not to bring his work home with him." She kept her answer concise and smiled as they reached the school gates. She knew that Erasa and Sharpner lived in the opposite direction. It seemed that Videl did too, because she was making her way to Erasa's side.

"Okay then. See you two tomorrow!" Erasa shouted as she waved at Rini and Gohan, both of whom were still standing at the front gates.

"Bye!" Rini shouted back. She turned to Gohan and he was looking at her as if he knew she was going to say something. "Gohan, do you live nearby?"

Gohan shook his head, "No, I live way out of town in the mountains. My family likes the outdoors."

"That's an awful long way to school every day!" Rini's voice rose in volume a little from the surprise. No wonder he looked like he was in such good shape! He must have some pretty strong legs!

"It's not that bad. I have ways of getting here. You know buses and stuff like that." It sounded like he had added the last sentence as an afterthought. Almost unnecessarily.

"Well, let's walk together until your turn-off then?" Rini smiled. Her words had sounded only slightly like a question because she knew he probably wouldn't say no. She saw his eyes widen a bit and then his right hand went to scratch the back of his neck. This seemed to be his nervous tick.

Rini giggled a little and then took the lead. Gohan felt his cheeks getting warm, but ignored that as he took a few quick steps to reach Rini's side. _Maybe she knows about Sailor Mini Moon… It's just a hunch, but…_

"Rini?"

"Yes? You sound like you have a question." She was smiling back at him as she kept walking.

"Well, yes. I was wondering if you've heard of someone."

"Who?" Her eyebrows arched in curiosity.

"Well I heard something about a new hero in town. She helped Saiyaman at a bank robbery this morning… er, I guess it's more the other way around. Word is she was doing fine on her own for a while and then Saiyaman came to help her. I was just wondering if you knew anything about her."

Rini stood rigid for a moment before continuing to walk. _Oh no! Could he have guessed that I'm Mini Moon? … Wait, he probably has no idea what she looks like! He wouldn't be able to connect me to her unless he was at the scene too! And I don't remember him being there… He was in class when I got there too. There's no way he could travel that far and get there before me._ As she finished her thoughts, she saw that Gohan was looking at her with a questioning expression. "Ah, Mini Moon. Yeah, she's a sailor scout. They were a group of sailor suited heroes a few decades ago. Though they haven't been too active in the last 20 years. A lot of people seem convinced that they aren't on Earth anymore. At least, that's what my mom has mentioned to me."

"Really? That's cool I guess. I wonder why I've never heard of them." Gohan thought for a moment. He certainly wasn't born yet 20 years ago, but both of his parents had been around. Though neither of them had ever mentioned anything. Then again, they had always lived in the mountains. Not necessarily the greatest place to hear news. "I guess living out in the mountains has its perks." Gohan chuckled. And to his relief, he heard Rini giggle at his statement.

"Well, if you want to know more about the scouts, feel free to ask any time. This is my street, so I can take it from here." She displayed her pearly whites in a dazzling smile. Then she walked on, turning once to say, "See you around, Gohan!" Then she kept walking away.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: To start off with this chapter, I'd like to thank everyone who has favorited, commented and added my story to their alerts. It was actually very surprising to see that it has gotten 8 favorites (according to my email notices) in this short(ish) amount of time. I'm sorry for the slow releases, but I'm a working girl now. I think I might be able to do one chapter per month. I have to go back and watch DBZ again for references because, like I mentioned earlier, this is basically following the episodes of, and leading up to, the Buu Saga (only that I'm inserting Rini and that causes a few changes).**

**Right, and I also realized that I forgot to add a disclaimer to the first chapter… but I think it's pretty obvious by now that I don't own anything as cool as DBZ or Sailor Moon. Perhaps one day I shall own something that Earth-shatteringly awesome, but that will be a long way off.**

**So here is the next chapter, based on the episode of DBZ that is titled "Blackmail." Enjoy!**

**Chapter 2**

Gohan waved until Rini turned away from him to focus on where she was walking. He was only a few blocks from Capsule Corporation, so he headed in that direction. He made it there in just a couple of minutes. He'd been here many times, so everyone there knew who he was as he walked in the front door. He found Bulma and Trunks pulling on jackets as if they were about to head out for time out on the town.

"Gohan!" Trunks was always happy to see Gohan. The younger boy rushed up to Gohan to greet him with an excited smile. Bulma walked up behind him with surprise written on her face.

"Hey Gohan. What brings you here today?" Her smile welcomed him. Gohan felt fortunate to have people like them to turn to when he needed to. "Oh, wait. I saw the news, so let me guess. You want to know about Sailor Mini Moon."

"Well, yeah. You're good." Gohan nodded. "You see, I've never heard of the sailor scouts. And according to a girl in my class, they've pretty much retired. But for one to suddenly come back after so long seems strange, doesn't it?"

"Well, maybe they've been around doing good deeds like today. But this one just had the luck to get caught on camera." Bulma theorized. "I've got to say, I was shocked that there is such a young scout. That and it doesn't make sense. The Mini Moon I remember seeing back in the old days wasn't much younger than what she looked like today. She should be at least 30 years old by now." As she said this, Bulma put a hand to her chin in thought.

"Yikes, really? So what do you think about this?" Gohan couldn't imagine a girl with such young features actually being that much older than he was.

"Well, I guess it's possible that the Mini Moon I remember from those days had a daughter… but she would've had to be pretty young during her pregnancy to have one that looks about your age. Or I guess it could be like the future Trunks that came here back when the androids and Cell were still terrorizing the Earth." Bulma suggested.

"Time travel? You think someone else can do that?" Gohan wasn't sure what to think of Bulma's theories. On one hand the time travel seemed unlikely, but on the other it was plausible.

"Well if the one from back then came from the future, then it makes sense that she would go back to her own time when she was done here. And then another one, the Mini Moon that belongs in this time, could be born." Bulma held up one of her index fingers as she spoke. As the mother of the boy that had time traveled 7 years ago, she knew it was certainly possible.

"I guess it could be that way." Gohan thought about it. "Thanks for helping me figure this out, Bulma. I've got to head home now. Seeya soon!" Gohan thanked her with a smile and then turned and jogged out the door.

"There was a future me?" Trunks piped up from Bulma's side once Gohan left. "Was he cool?"

"Oh, yes. He was very cool." Bulma took pleasure in telling her son about what he was like in the future.

As Gohan walked in the door to his home, his little brother greeted him. "Hey Gohan! Welcome home! Did you have fun at school today?" Goten grinned a toothy grin. He was the spitting image of his father.

"Yeah, Sport. Where's Mom?" Gohan put a hand on his brother's head and searched the room.

"She's in the kitchen making dinner. It's meatloaf. Ick!" Goten stuck out his tongue for emphasis on how much he disliked meatloaf. Even though he was part Saiyan the young boy had foods he disliked. Chichi seemed impressed that Saiyans could dislike any food, but she was also bent on making Goten eat whatever she made.

Gohan put his messenger bag down on a table and then went to the kitchen. "Mom, I have something to ask you about." He poked his head into the doorway as he said this. He saw his mother standing at the counter preparing dinner. She'd aged a little since Goku died. But she still had that motherly radiance about her.

"What is it, Gohan?" She asked pleasantly as she focused on cooking. The television was on to provide her with some background noise while she cooked.

"I wonder if you ever heard of the sailor scouts back around twenty years ago. Did you?" Gohan didn't want to emphasize the fact that his mother was getting older in his question, but lucky for him that his mother didn't seem to be focused on that part.

"I can't say that I did… it sounds familiar, I guess. Is that some sort of group or something?" Chichi looked at Gohan for a moment and then gave her attention back to the meal she was preparing.

"Well, Bulma said they were a superhero group back then. It's nothing to worry about I guess, just that one of them made an appearance with me today. She was a tough girl, but she had a little trouble so I stepped in." Gohan reported to his mother about the incident.

"That's nice that you helped her, Gohan. What a gentleman. Was she a pretty girl?" Chichi wondered with a devious, yet somehow, motherly smile.

Gohan always became flustered when his mother asked about things involving dating or pretty girls. She may as well have stamped 'Date my son!' on his forehead. Chichi was very pushy about these sorts of things.

"Mom, it's not like that! I just thought it was kind of nice to have another hero in town." Gohan avoided making eye contact with his mother as he answered. She could sense that he was embarrassed.

"But was she pretty?" Chichi asked again.

"I guess… I mean, she wore a mask so I didn't get a good look at her eyes or anything. That's not usually the first thing on my mind when I'm saving lives!"

"Calm down, Gohan. Goodness, you're so touchy when I want to talk about you and girls." Chichi pouted at her eldest son and then picked up a serving plate with meatloaf. "Goten! Dinner!"

The family sat down to eat with the TV still on for background noise. They were wrapped up in conversation about school and ideas for the weekend that was coming up. But then an ad started playing on the TV that got both Goten and Gohan's attention. The ad showed a circus was in town, and then the shot focused on a man dressed more like a business man than a ringmaster whipping a small dinosaur. It just happened that Gohan and Goten knew this dinosaur and its family pretty well.

"Gohan! It's Choubi!" Goten declared, sounding saddened by seeing their friend in such a situation.

"Oh no, Toutou and his wife won't like this." Gohan referred to the small dinosaur's parents. They were very large, fully-grown dinos of the flying variety. Gohan could easily picture them rampaging through a city full of people looking for their only baby.

"The poor little guy…" Chichi was looking at the screen as it still showed the small dinosaur, Choubi, being whipped by the ringmaster.

"This is really awful, Gohan!" Goten looked to his brother for help, his eyes begging for the safe return of their friend. Gohan looked at his little brother and smiled warmly.

"Don't worry, Squirt, I'll set things straight first thing tomorrow. That's a promise." Gohan also believed that it would be better to not have the city trampled by giant prehistoric lizards raging about their lost son.

"Really?" Goten's face brightened right up, "Gohan, you're the best!"

Rini sat in the living room of the apartment she lived in with her parents. She was tired and trying to wind down for the night by watching some TV. Then she saw an ad for a circus that was in town.

"Oh, the circus?" Serena's voice alerted Rini of her mother's presence behind the couch. "Rini, why don't you go? It should be fun." The blonde woman smiled at her lovingly.

"I don't know. That little guy looks kind of sad to be there." Rini was looking at the face of the small dinosaur. "But I guess it would be cool to see a real dinosaur. And the last time I went to a circus… That was a while ago." Rini couldn't remember very well that last time she'd gone to one, but she knew that the Amazoness Quartet had performed in a circus before. Though they'd stayed behind with the rest of the scouts in her previous town to finish up the school year along with Hotaru. Since they were all a little bit older than Rini, Hotaru and the asteroid scouts attended a local university back home, but they all took their duty to protect the princess seriously and had agreed to transfer to another university so that they could join Rini in this new town.

"I'm sure it will be fun, and look," her mother pointed to the screen, "there's a show tomorrow around noon. How about you go?" Serena really wanted Rini to become comfortable with this new town and go to local events like this so she could have fun.

"Alright, but I don't think they'll have acrobats as amazing as the asteroid scouts." Rini winked at her mother. Serena smiled and chuckled before heading off to her bedroom where Darien was already sleeping.

"Rini! Can I go with you tomorrow?" Rini's grey cat, Diana hopped up onto the couch and sauntered to her princess.

"Sure, Diana, just remember, don't let others hear you speak." Rini winked at her feline friend.

The next day, Rini set out with Diana hanging on to her shoulder. She'd chosen denim shorts and a purple tank top for the day because it seemed like it would be warm today. The sun was almost at its highest point, meaning that noon would arrive shortly. The young sailor scout hurried to an area downtown where she knew the circus would be.

Once she got closer, she knew she was in the right place. Like looking for an anime convention, it was very easy. All Rini and Diana had to do was look for bright colors and people in costumes. Not to mention that there was also a large circus tent set up in the middle of a huge crowd of people.

"Wow, so many people here!" Diana kept her voice at a whisper. Rini patted Diana on the head and nodded. There were so many people crowding around the entrance of the tent that Rini could hardly even see the opening. She got on her tiptoes and stretched her neck in an attempt to see over the crowd, but to no avail. She decided to stand off at the side of the street until the crowd died down a little bit.

"That dinosaur has a mother, a father and a home, you just can't take it, Mister!" Gohan told the man in charge of the circus. He'd decided that he would try to reason with the man in order to get Choubi back to his parents. This man obviously had no interest in listening to Gohan's plea.

"Shut up! Where do you think circus owners get their animals from, kid? Do you think the stork brings them?" At this point, the man grabbed Gohan's shirt collar. The man, his cigar breath floating under Gohan's nose, was very angry with Gohan for trying to convince him to give up his main attraction. "It's dollars that matter, not sentimental rubbish!" The man pushed Gohan away with enough force to cause the young Saiyan to lose his footing. Then the man laughed.

Gohan knew that Choubi had to be returned to his parents before the two dinosaurs trampled the city in anger.

Gohan snuck around the backside of the circus tent in his Saiyaman guise, being careful to not drawn much attention to himself. (Yeah, kind of an oxymoron there…) He scanned the area and saw the small yellow-green dinosaur in a cage.

"Choubi!" Gohan ran towards the cage and kneeled down to look at his friend. "Hey, it's me, Gohan! I'm here to get you out of here." The small dino's face lit up at Gohan's words. The Saiyan easily bent the bars of the cage to make a gap large enough to free his friend. Only seconds after Gohan lifted Choubi on to his back, a man from the circus came out to check on the circus star. This man was very large and bulging with muscle. He held a long, metal rod in his hands threateningly directed towards the Great Saiyaman.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm returning him to his rightful home!" Gohan told him, not even remembering to use his super hero toned voice.

"That's what you think!" The strongman shouted as he swung the metal rod downwards in an attempt to hit the hero. Gohan easily dodged strike after strike from the rod while keeping Choubi on his back, waiting for his chance to counter. He saw it! Before the large man knew what had happened, he'd been flipped over the hero, landing roughly on his rump, and disarmed.

The rod in one hand, Gohan turned his head, helmet visor catching a little reflective light, and smiled. "Careful, Sir, swinging iron poles can be dangerous." He left Choubi without the support of both hands long enough to bend the iron pole into the shape of a bow.

"Man, who in the world are you?" The frustrated muscle man looked at Gohan, still wincing from the impact he'd felt against the ground.

"Just a friend." With that, Gohan began lifted off into the air.

Rini saw that the crowd was still very large, though slightly less since the show had started. She'd been in line now for about twenty minutes, Diana resting on top of her head.

"Such a long line…" Rini muttered. Diana shifted a little on Rini's head, getting the girl's attention. "What is it Diana?"

"Mew." Diana meowed, thinking there were too many people around to talk, and gestured upwards.

Rini looked up and saw the Great Saiyaman flying overhead. This could mean that there was trouble in the city! Rini didn't need to think more than a moment before she started following him on foot.

She moved as fast as she could, Diana trying her best to hold on tight to her princess. Rini came to an empty side street and shouted out her transformation words. "Pink Moon Crystal Power!" Her day clothes were instantly replaced with her scout uniform and her white mask.

"Rini, what's wrong?" Diana was surprised that the princess had transformed so suddenly after willingly leaving her place in line at the circus.

"The guy you saw is Saiyaman, another hero in town. I figure if he's headed somewhere, there might be some action going on in the city; then he might need my help!"

Gohan, after having trouble with Choubi holding still, decided to descend and travel by foot. Choubi hadn't yet learned how to fly and it was because of this that the little guy was uncomfortable with being high up in the air. When he landed, he sensed a familiar energy approaching and turned around to see Mini Moon running towards him. He waited for her to catch up. Once she reached his side, a cat hanging on to her head as if for dear life, she took a few deep breaths. She'd been in a hurry to catch up to him.

"Mini Moon…" Gohan started, remembering the last time they'd worked together. Then his mother's words entered his mind. _Was she pretty?_ Gohan shook his head lightly, "What brings you here?"

She finally caught her breath and then looked at the dinosaur on his back. "I saw you flying around and thought you might need my help with something… Why are you carrying the dinosaur from the circus?" From what little of Mini Moon's face could be seen, he could tell it was contorted in confusion.

"Er, well, he's actually a family friend… and he's got a home and a family that will likely come looking for him if he isn't returned soon. And that could be very bad, you see, so I plan on taking him back to them." Gohan explained to her what he'd tried to tell the owner of the circus.

"Oh. I guess you don't need help then?" Mini Moon sounded a tad distraught that she wasn't needed after all. Gohan smiled at her. The cat seemed to be looking at her owner with a curious expression, then directed her curiosity toward Gohan.

"Maybe not this time, but any other time— " Before he could finish, police cars zoomed into view with their sirens on and lights flashing wildly. "Uh oh!" he instinctively began running from the cars.

Rini took a fraction of a second to realize that Saiyaman had probably taken the dinosaur without consent from the circus. _That blockhead! He's going to get himself on a wanted poster if he does something so careless!_ Rini stood in the middle of the road and held her arms up to draw the attention of the police officers in the cars. The lead car skidded to a stop with an ear-splitting screech just in time to keep from hitting the scout! The other cars stopped as well, barely preventing a collision.

The lead car's driver rolled down his window and leaned out looking furious. "Just what do you think you're doing, Mini Moon? Don't jump into the middle of the road like that!"

"Sorry, officer, but you don't need to be chasing Saiyaman! He's just taking the dinosaur back to its home!" Mini Moon replied calmly, but loud enough to be heard by other officers who had rolled their windows down to listen in.

"He stole that dinosaur, little lady, though it sounds like he told you something different! If you don't move out of our way now, you could very well become an accomplice in this!"

"But…" Rini thought for a minute, _Saiyaman didn't sound like he was lying. But they seem to be in hot pursuit of him. I should tag along to find out what's going on exactly._ "I want to help you guys! Can I hop in the car and provide assistance once you catch up?" she requested. Her eyes were completely concentrated on the eyes of the officer in the lead car who had addressed her. After a few silent moments of staring, the officer nodded his head and gestured to the door on the side opposite of him. Rini smiled and rushed into the car.

Gohan had been outrunning cop cars for about five minutes now and had just hopped over a semi that skidded in front of the cars chasing the hero. The cars managed to stop in time and Gohan was relieved that nobody has gotten hurt from his diversion. He figured it would give him more time to get ahead of the police. That is, until a yellow plane flown by Videl cut off his path. She landed her plane in front of the frozen Saiyaman.

"Well, well, look who it is. It didn't take you long to show your true colors, did it, Mr. Saiyaman?" Videl's question was definitely an accusation. "You should be ashamed."

"It's not what it looks like! Believe me, Videl. If I don't get this dinosaur back to where he belongs, the city will be in danger! Honest!" Gohan didn't know if talking to her would work, but he wanted to try if it meant he wouldn't have to fight her.

"What do you know about honesty? You're just a thief! Now hand that dinosaur back to its rightful owner or I'll have to take it back by force!" Videl clenched her fist as her blue eyes narrowed. She was serious. After he didn't move or say anything in his defense, Videl got into a fighting stance. "Alright, have it your way. Let's see what you've got, big guy—I mean, _Great_ Saiyaman!" She mocked him with a chuckle.

Choubi stifled a whine on Gohan's back. The little dino was uncomfortable, but he calmed down enough to quiet down. Gohan didn't want to fight with Videl, but he wouldn't have a choice if she attacked him.

Rini saw Saiyaman in the road as the police cars caught up to him at last. Not only did she see him, she also saw Videl in the road. She had heard from Erasa and Sharpner that Videl went around the city fighting crime. After all, since her father was famous as a fighter, there was no need for Videl to hide her identity from the media. Rini motioned Diana to stay in the car for the duration of the incident.

Rini, the cops, and the circus owner (having grabbed a ride with one of the officers) got out of the cars and the circus owner immediately growled upon seeing the man who had taken his money maker. "There he is! Get him!"

"Hold on, that girl there can handle this. It's Videl, Mr. Satan's daughter." The officer who had been driving Rini told the circus owner.

"Please," Gohan found his voice at last, "You know I'm a law-abiding citizen but this is a special case, I swear!"

"So you hold yourself above the law is that it? You obey the law when it's convenient for you but when you want to break it you call it a _special_ case!" Videl leaped at Gohan, throwing a flying kick at what she thought was him. However, Gohan used his inhuman speed to avoid the hit. As Videl landed on the ground, she followed up by lunging toward where Gohan had moved and grabbing for his cape before he had a chance to run away. The tug on his cape caused Choubi to fall over the front of Gohan's shoulder and to the ground.

"You know, I'm glad you finally showed what you're really like; to be honest, I've wanted to kick your butt ever since I met you!" Videl declared after releasing Gohan's cape.

"Gosh, you're mean. Wow." Gohan scratched his cheek with one of his gloved fingers.

"Don't mock me, you freak!" Videl lunged at him again in a furious frenzy.

Rini watched things unfold. She still thought Saiyaman was telling the truth; she couldn't deny the honesty she heard in his voice when he told her what he was doing. He hadn't been using his hero voice either, which led Rini to believe that this case really was personal. The dinosaur didn't seem alarmed being carried around by him earlier so the little guy probably knew Saiyaman.

As Saiyaman kept avoiding Videl's attacks, not even making an effort to execute a counterattack, Rini saw that not only had a large crowd of citizens gathered to watch the fight between heroes but owner of the circus was trying to get the dinosaur back. She saw the dino struggling to stay out of the man's grip. This man was obviously not the rightful caretaker. He soon became frustrated with the resistance and got out a whip from inside his coat.

"How dare you, you little twerp!"

"Hey, let him be!" Rini shouted at the man as she also approached Choubi's space bubble. "You're obviously scaring the little guy!"

"It's my dino; _I_ paid for it!" The man began to whip Choubi, completely ignoring the sailor scout's attempt to reason. The dinosaur started to whine quietly.

Gohan turned his head when he heard Choubi's whining. Videl noticed as she and Gohan were locked in a shoving match. She seemed to think that Saiyaman was concerned that his goods were being liberated.

"He's back with his rightful owner now, so there!"

"Look! If we don't return that baby to its father and mother, they're going to come looking for him and it's not going to be pretty! You have to believe me!"

"I believe you're trying to cover your own tracks! That's what I believe!" Videl threw a kick toward his head but Gohan ducked under and then sprang up behind her. "Guess what'll happen when they arrest you. The first thing they'll do is take that trashcan off your head and reveal your true identity!" Videl referred to Gohan's helmet. Her stance said she was ready to keep fighting.

"I said stop it!" Rini yelled again at the man who seemed to think that massive amounts of money meant he could ignore her and continue to whip the small dino. Choubi started to whine louder until it became a wail.

Gohan and Videl both stopped where they stood and looked over at Choubi.

"Oh no!" Gohan sounded like trouble was on the way.

"What's he doing?" Videl asked.

"He's calling his _parents_!"

Choubi continued to wail loudly and desperately for his mother and father. Gohan looked wearily into the sky, knowing that Toutou was bound to hear his son. This wasn't shaping up to be a good situation!

Rini looked at Saiyaman, noticing his skyward glance. The circus owner whipped Choubi once more, demanding that the dinosaur stop making so much noise. Rini growled and materialized her Crescent Moon Wand.

"Pink Moon Duster!" A pink ray of light emitted from her wand and engulfed the whip while leaving the man holding it unharmed. The whip turned to dust and the man was so shocked that he stepped back several feet and toppled over backwards, landing on his rear. Rini walked towards the wailing Choubi but only moved one step before a large shadow flew over the area.

"Yikes… here we go." Gohan mumbled, seeing that Toutou and his wife were both flying overhead.

The citizens that had gathered to watch Saiyaman clash with Videl were fleeing and screaming in terror as the giant dinosaurs circled and descended. The police got their guns ready and began shooting, most either missing or having no effect on the large beasts.

"Don't shoot! They're just trying to get their baby back!" Gohan turned to Videl. "See! It's Choubi's parents! The circus people came and robbed their nest; they want Choubi back! Miss Videl, this family needs our help."

"I understand now." Videl nodded and dashed into the line of fire shouting. "Hold your fire!" Meanwhile, Gohan tried to calm the angry parents.

Rini took this moment to lift Choubi now that he had stopped wailing and the police stopped firing their guns. "Hey, little guy, you don't have to worry anymore. You're safe now." Her smile caused Choubi to smile in return.

"Saiyaman! It's no good, dinosaurs don't understand our language!"

"I know that, Miss Videl, but I've known them for a long time and they might recognize my voice!"

"Just show them who you are! I won't tell anybody!" Videl called out to Gohan.

Suddenly, Toutou began to dive towards Rini; she still held Choubi in her arms. Gohan saw this right away and moved as fast as he could toward his ally.

"Mini Moon, look out!" Rini was pushed to the ground, Saiyaman landing over her protectively. He was on his hands and knees, Mini Moon under him with a strong hand on each of her shoulders and her lower body between his legs. He didn't seem to care about the awkward position it put them in at the moment. He was focused on the large dinosaur that had just barely missed her. "Toutou, please stop! It's me, Go—" he'd stopped himself just in time from saying his name. Rini looked at him as he looked down at her with hesitation.

"Go?" Rini asked, looking up at Saiyaman from her spot on the ground. _He couldn't have possibly been about to say 'Gohan' could he? _As their gazes remained locked (I couldn't say eyes because he's got a helmet and she's got a mask!), Toutou was circling around for another go at them. Saiyaman stood up, focusing on the dinosaur once again. He was closing in fast. The caped hero took a deep breath.

"Toutou!" The attack halted as the dinosaur seemed to recognize the voice behind the helmet. Toutou landed on the ground looking at Saiyaman with a look of familiarity. Rini stood up as well, making sure to put Choubi down gently on the ground. She smiled at Saiyaman as if to say 'Good job.'

At this point, the circus owner had stolen a gun from a cop and run towards Mini Moon and Saiyaman. Toutou looked at him cautiously.

"All of you freeze! Now give me back my dinosaur or I'll blow you away! I found him, he's mine!"

"Don't shoot!" Gohan pleaded.

Videl took this opportunity to pull out some handcuffs that she kept handy for when she was fighting crime and hurl them at the man's hands like a pebble from a slingshot. She hit her target. However, the man's finger managed to pull back on the trigger, causing a misfire into the air. This shot provoked Toutou into anger once more. He went for the closest target: Mini Moon!

"Toutou! Not her! Please!" Gohan called as the sailor suited girl turned around to see that the dinosaur was already towering over her. She screamed. Gohan rushed in front of her and landed a solid punch in Toutou's gut strong enough to topple the giant and knock him out.

Choubi toddled over to his fallen father making whining noises and trying to shake him awake just as Videl walked toward Gohan and Mini Moon.

"Don't worry about your dad, little guy, he'll be just fine." Gohan reassured Choubi.

"Saiyaman…" Mini Moon started to say, "Thank you for saving me yet again." She smiled at him sweetly. The color of her eyes was barely noticeable through the small eyeholes in her mask, but Gohan saw a hint of red. And he also noticed that her hair was pink like cotton candy (Granted, he probably should've noticed earlier… but he doesn't think of checking out girls when he's saving lives. That would be more like Yamcha or Roshi).

"Listen to how precious he is…" Videl had been paying more attention to Choubi's fussing over his father than to the costumed crime fighters. Her voice moved Gohan's focus away from Mini Moon. "Saiyaman… I… I… Sorry." As she spoke, Gohan brought his hand up to his face to wipe away a drop of blood that had appeared. He must've gotten scratched when he attacked Toutou. Then he looked skywards to see Toutou's wife circling.

"Don't worry, Miss." Gohan quickly loaded Toutou onto his back, hoping that putting the dinosaur's head over his shoulder would help to keep him in place. He lifted Choubi into his arms and looked at Videl and Mini Moon as Toutou's wife continued to circle in the sky above them. "I hope to see you both again soon; it's always nice to have some help protecting the city! Bye!" With that, Gohan rose into the air toward Toutou's wife.

"Bye!" Rini and Videl both waved to him and then looked at one another surprised that they had said that at the same time.

"I didn't get to introduce myself earlier. I'm Videl." The girl with the black pigtails reached out toward Rini, offering a handshake. Rini happily shook her hand.

"I'm Sailor Mini Moon. Nice to meet you."

"It's always nice to have another tough girl to help out around town."

"Agreed." Rini nodded and giggled lightheartedly. "Well, I've got to be on my way. Later, Videl!" Rini smiled and then jogged off, Diana running to join her side as she left.

"I know where the nest is; I'll be back! You hear?" The circus owner shouted angrily after Saiyaman and Mini Moon.

"Why don't you think it over in jail for a few days?

"Jail?" the man questioned. He wasn't looking forward to it.

"Stealing a dinosaur is no crime, but taking an officer's hand gun is!" The officer who'd had his gun taken by the man laughed. Videl laughed with him. The day had been saved once again by Saiyaman and Mini Moon, and Videl didn't mind too much as long as people were safe and Saiyaman wasn't taking advantage of his role as a hero.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

Rini soon found an isolated place to change back to her day clothes and then kept on her way home. Diana was once again perched on the princess's head.

"Well, Rini, even though we didn't get to see the circus, it was a busy day. Lots of excitement." Diana nodded her head and looked downward at Rini to see if she could catch a glimpse of her face.

"Diana, I think I know who Saiyaman is."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Today he didn't change the tone of his voice because he wanted the dinosaurs to recognize him by listening to him speak. It sounded like a boy in my class. And when he pushed me out of the way of Toutou's dive bomb, he almost said his name… it started with 'Go.' So I think Saiyaman in Gohan." Rini explained to Diana. She was convinced that she was right. That would explain Gohan's sudden curiosity about the sailor scouts the other day.

"Gohan?" Diana had no idea who this Gohan was. Rini forgot that she hadn't told Diana much about school yet. Rini kept walking toward her home; she saw the roof of the apartments already, only another block away.

"Gohan is a boy in my class. He's pale and he's got short, spiky black hair. He's nice enough and pretty cute. And he's also really smart; he has the highest grades in the class." Rini held up an index finger as if this would emphasize how great Gohan was. "He said he lives in the mountains outside of town. But I checked a map and the closest mountains are hours away! If he's Saiyaman then it would make sense that he flies to school every morning!" Diana was still a bit unclear on what Rini was trying to say.

"It sounds like you've taken a shining to this Gohan."

"A shining?" Rini asked, her cheeks warming at Diana's suggestion. "You don't know what you're talking about, Diana! I just think he's a good friend and mighty suspicious!"

"Who's a good friend?" Rini heard a familiar voice from the front of her apartment that she hadn't heard for a couple weeks. She looked in the direction of the voice to see a beautiful young woman with black hair and dark violet eyes. Her hair fell to her pale shoulders which were revealed by a black spaghetti strap dress that flowed to her knees. The girl ran towards Rini with a smile, the skirt of her dress following her movements.

"Hotaru!" Rini grinned broadly and hugged her best friend.

"So who are you taking a shining to? Some 'Go-something' fellow? I think I ought to meet him if my princess and best friend is showing interest." Hotaru made a point to pout at Rini as if she would disapprove until she met the guy.

"Gosh, I missed you too." Rini sighed and then smiled once more. "So Hotaru, you decided to surprise me with a visit? Did anyone else come?"

"Well, Setsuna finally transferred to be a nurse at your high school and she'll be starting once she's moved into her new apartment. Michiru and Haruka were going to come with her but Michiru got called to put on a violin recital across the country and of course Haruka went with her. Mina couldn't pull herself away from her home because she's waiting for an audition callback. Lita was busy with her shop. Rei has an event at her temple. And Amy, well, you know what a doctor's life is like." Hotaru gestured towards the empty driveway where Darien's car would be if he were home. "As for the quartet, they all have tests to study for throughout the course of the week."

"Did CereCere get that cute guy in her fitness class on a date yet?" Rini fondly recalled the last time she had gotten to spend time with the quartet before moving. She had found CereCere's dramatic storytelling hilarious.

"Haha, yeah. They've been on two dates since you left. But since our university's got finals coming up soon, they decided to wait until our next break to get serious about dating." Hotaru nodded. "But right, back on topic. You like this 'Go-something' guy?"

"Hotaru… you never let me sneak out of answering you, huh? Fine," Rini sighed heavily as if she were pretending it was a hassle to answer, "I guess I wouldn't mind him as a boyfriend. He's strong, cute and definitely smart. He also has this strangely gentle nature to him despite the power I'm sure he's capable of."

"I want to meet him." Hotaru told her with a monotone. "Tomorrow. After school. Invite him over to hang. I shall judge him." While Hotaru had always been a shy child, she was hardly ever shy in front of the scouts. In fact, the future Rini probably had a great deal to do with that.

"I just met him yesterday. I think it might seem a bit weird to suddenly invite him over to my home so suddenly…"

"You can even use me as an excuse. If he asks, just say it's for me. I'm willing to take this one for you, Princess." Hotaru winked as she used Rini's title.

The two girls walked into Rini's apartment where Rini knew her mother would be preparing dinner shortly. Darien wouldn't be home for another few hours, thus is the life of a doctor. They sat down in the living room to catch up on every little thing that the other had missed. Serena and Luna even joined in at some point to ask about the scouts and Hotaru's school life. Hotaru planned on staying at Setsuna's new apartment that night because the two had come to town together. Michiru and Haruka were scheduled to pick Hotaru up in a few days so the she could get back to school for her tests.

Giggling filled the room as the long-time friends gabbed. Rini missed this laughter. Once Hotaru left again, she would eagerly wait for her best friend to move to town. She only had to wait about a month until Hotaru would be able to transfer over to a local university. But at least Setsuna would be here until then.

After Darien got home, the group ate dinner and then Hotaru left for the night. Serena started doing dishes, with some help from her dear husband. Luna and Diana decided to call Artemis using one of the communicators that Amy had made for the scouts to stay in contact. Artemis wouldn't be able to leave his Mina until after Mina heard back on the audition she'd recently tried out for. More or less, he just really wanted to know if she got the role. Rini went to her room, did her homework until the late hours of the night and then got ready for bed.

As she lay down to sleep, the moon princess found herself staring at the ceiling restlessly. _I wonder how I should ask Gohan to come over… maybe I'll just be forward about it. That should work. Gohan in my home… Gohan… in MY home?_ Rini sat up with a jolt. _Oh no! My room is a mess!_ She reached for the light on the table next to her bed. The room illuminated. It was a bit messy, but more what one would consider an "organized mess." While she didn't care if someone like Hotaru saw her room as it was, she did not want Gohan to see it!

The suddenly self-conscious girl jumped out of bed and began to tidy up, dust and shift objects around. To her, time wasn't going by slowly enough. She had spent about three to four hours cleaning every little nook and cranny that she could find in her room. By the time that the young princess had gotten to bed, her clock read _3:00AM_.

Since the dinosaur fiasco had been the main event of his weekend, it seemed like school shouldn't be today. But the feelings of one individual (or a majority of the student population) could hardly change the fact that school _would_ come. Gohan was running late for school again. This was like most mornings, except that instead of saving lives, he'd just slept in a little late. He ran down the school hall at a quick jogging pace (for normal people) only to come to a sudden stop at hearing Videl.

"Hey, good morning, Gohan." Her tone sounded almost suspiciously pleasant as she smiled and greet the boy.

"Oh, hey, Videl. You're late too, huh?" Gohan returned her courteous greeting with his own. Just as Gohan was about to continue his jog to class, Videl slammed her open locker to get his attention again.

"Gohan! It's over!"

Rini rushed down the halls of Orange Star High. "I'm late again!" She yawned. If she hadn't spent so much time cleaning her room on the off-chance that Gohan would agree to go to come over after school, she wouldn't have slept in so late. She could still make it with just enough time to get to her seat before the final bell if she hurried. But the tired girl stopped in her tracks as she heard Gohan's voice around the next corner. She cautiously poked her head around the corner and saw Gohan talking to Videl. Only, Videl seemed like she was very smug about something she'd figured out. Rini then brought her head back out of view so she wouldn't be discovered. _What's going on? I suppose I can just listen for a minute…_ Even though she almost felt guilty, her nosiness was on par with that of her mother's. She leaned her back against the wall and listened from where she was.

"What do you mean? Class is just now starting." Gohan wasn't quite sure where she was going with this conversation.

"Forget class! Hold still… there!" In a fraction of a second, she'd reached up to a band aid on Gohan's left cheek and pulled it off to reveal the scratch he'd gotten from Toutou. "My gosh, isn't _that_ funny. Yeah, I saw Saiyaman get scratched in the exact same spot. And that's exactly who you are, Mr. Saiyaman!" Videl pointed

"Yikes! Busted! I can't believe that the secret identity of Saiyaman is public knowledge!" Gohan was shocked. He stood rigid as he recalled all the things he'd done from the silly poses to the revealing of his powers. He didn't know what he would do if everyone now knew that it was actually _him_ behind that helmet.

"I wouldn't say public knowledge; only I know. But I do think that the public has a right to know. Maybe I should schedule a press conference." Videl's eyes narrowed slightly as she threatened the hero.

"No! Please don't! The reason I keep my identity a secret is to protect my family's privacy, please, Videl!" Gohan's tone took on a desperate sound.

"Is that right?"

"Yes, of course!" Gohan confirmed.

"Hey… you're the golden fighter as well, aren't you?" Videl accused him further.

"No! Just Saiyaman! Besides, that guy has blonde hair!" Gohan lied quickly. He couldn't have her knowing _that_ much even if it was the truth! He couldn't explain that he wasn't all human; there was no telling where that might lead.

"You're right about that." Videl observed the boy's face as his worried expression mellowed. "He's more handsome too. I guess I believe you… Yeah, I do."

"Videl, is there any way you can keep my secret between us?"

"Maybe, but you have to do something for me in return…" Videl leaned her back to the lockers and crossed her arms as she pondered. No longer than a second later, she looked Gohan in the eyes and said, "Okay, here's the deal: if you enter the world martial arts tournament, I'll keep your secret. How's that?"

"Me fight in the tournament?" This seemed like a weird request in exchange for keeping a secret.

Rini still listened quietly as the two talked. _So he is Saiyaman! I knew it! Well, since that's confirmed, I can focus on other things. But what does Videl want to gain from Gohan fighting in a tournament? I hope she won't insist on fighting him. Regardless of her strength, Gohan would never hit her back; he's too nice to do that._ Rini let herself slide down the wall to sit at her post. Her blue jeans wrinkled slightly as she pulled her knees to her chest. Her yellow blouse wrinkled as well as she leaned closer to their voices.  
>Videl explained her reasons for Gohan entering the tournament. Apparently his father had been the champion before her dad and she thought it would be a good match. And she didn't want victory unless she knew the best fighters would be at the tournament. Gohan had tried to deny his relation to this Goku, but even Rini could tell from just his voice that he was lying. Videl once again threatened to tell everyone that Gohan was Saiyaman if he didn't compete.<p>

"What? You'd do that?" Gohan raised his voice, shocked even more each time Videl placed more pressure on him.

"Yeah, sure. The truth is the truth. Your family can adapt to being in the limelight just like mine did." Videl closed her eyes calmly as she still leaned on the lockers.

"You wouldn't really?"

"Just try me." She dared him with the menacing look in her blue eyes and the sly smirk on her lips.

"Alright then, I'll compete in the tournament." Gohan was defeated. He had no idea of how to get out of this so he just agreed. After all, he couldn't let the world know that he was a super-powered Saiyan-human hybrid. That would just be too much right now!

"Relax! It'll be a blast! Oh, and one more condition. Nothing too big, I just want to learn how to fly, that's all. That shouldn't be too hard, right?" Videl began to walk toward the classroom.

Still hopelessly doomed to enter the tournament, Gohan replied, "No, it's a cinch."

"Alright, we'll start soon! Later!" Videl waved and was gone just like that with a grin on her face.

"Blackmailed again… how do I do it?" Gohan recalled being blackmailed into his first date not too long ago. And now he was being blackmailed into a tournament that he didn't care to be a part of.

Rini sighed to herself. _Gohan, you are so unlucky, aren't you?_ She stood up and straightened out her clothes briefly. Then she walked around the corner. Gohan wasn't looking at her at first because he was staring at where Videl had been standing with a forlorn expression on his face. But the boy suddenly stiffened and Rini guessed he'd picked up on her energy at last.

"Morning, Gohan." Rini smiled at him.

"Oh, Rini, good morning… How long have you been there?" Gohan felt that if he was going to be blackmailed a third time, he might as well just lie down and die. It was far too exhausting and probably bad for his health.

"I heard most of that conversation. Sorry." Rini looked a bit ashamed of eavesdropping. As nosy as she was, she still felt bad for purposely listening in on something that Gohan didn't want anyone to know.

"So you know too… Wow, I'm bad at keeping secrets, huh?" Gohan rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand and cast his eyes down at the floor.

"I think I know something that would make you feel a bit better about the whole 'secret identity being exposed' thing." Rini smiled. She took his hand in her own and led Gohan briskly up to the roof of the school.

"Wait, where are we- but class is starting!" Gohan tried to argue, but to no avail. This just wasn't his day.

"Calm down, I promise this will be quick!" Rini didn't even look back as she dragged him through the halls.

As she held his hand, Gohan felt his face warm immensely. _This is… different. Kind of warm…_ He stared at her hand as it held his. She had long, slender fingers that were not quite long enough to wrap around his hand completely. Her hand was also very soft, very delicate. He nearly tripped up the stairs to the roof because he was so distracted.

Once they reached the roof, Rini released his hand and then turned to face him. "I have a secret too, and since I know yours, I think it would be fair to let you know mine."

"What? A secret?" Gohan wasn't sure if this would turn out good or bad.

Rini giggled at his confusion. She found it cute. "You'll see…" She reached into her bag and pulled out her brooch. Gohan almost instantly recognized the brooch.

"_Pink Moon Crystal Power!_" Rini called out. She stood before Gohan now in her scout uniform. She removed her white mask and winked at him with her tongue stuck out.

"You-you're Mini Moon?" Gohan pointed at her, at a loss for any other words.

"Yep. And you're Saiyaman. Though, after the whole circus thing, I had my suspicions. You almost said your name. And you didn't use that superhero voice because you wanted Choubi and Toutou to know who you were, right?" Rini explained her deductions and held up a finger in thought.

"Right. Wow, so it was you. I guess I should've realized it sooner. But your energy almost feels completely different when you aren't Mini Moon. Why is that?" Gohan seemed to be calming down a tad.

"It feels different? I couldn't imagine why. Unless it's because of my crystal. Maybe it somehow changes my signal when it's being used?" Rini speculated, but then excused the matter with a wave of her hand. "Right, so now we know who the other is. Don't worry about me telling anybody. I won't, even if I doubt you'd tell my secret as payback. I like having a friend to fight alongside me." A memory of the scouts fighting crime together in the old days crossed her mind. "Ever since I moved here, most of the other sailor scouts haven't been able to visit." Realizing that she might sound a bit too dependent, Rini paused and then added, "Not that I _need_ a team. I could be solo; it's just nice to know that someone has got my back."

Gohan looked at the girl as she stared into the distant blue sky. Her words were somehow touching. He didn't quite understand why she wanted to appear so tough, but he admired her determination, at least. "Rini, you miss them?"

"Yeah. Though one of them did come to visit yesterday. She said that Pluto got a job as a nurse at our school so that she could keep watch over me." She smiled, realizing that she was rambling about her personal thoughts to Gohan. She blushed a bit and shook her head. "Right. Enough reminiscing." Rini said and changed back to her normal clothes in a flash of light. She grinned at Gohan widely and patted his back roughly. "Oh, and I kind of mentioned you to my friend yesterday and she wants to meet you… Would you like to come over to my house after school today?"

Gohan was completely thrown for a loop. His morning was just becoming too packed with excitement and discoveries—and he wasn't even in class! First he was late, and then he was blackmailed, overheard, and then basically invited to the home of the city's new heroine.

"Uh, sure. I guess I wouldn't mind. Why does she want to meet me? What did you say?" Gohan wondered what Rini could've possibly said about him to cause her friend to want to meet him so suddenly.

Rini blushed again as Hotaru's voice replayed in her head. _You've taken a shining to this 'Go-something' fellow?_ She tried to vigorously shake the words out of her mind. This made her hair a little messy as it tried to follow the movements of her head. Gohan didn't question the head shaking out loud, but her did put on a curious expression.

"Well, she asked about school and I mentioned you and a few others… and a little bit about you all. And she wanted to meet you."

"I guess it'd be okay." Gohan was a little unsure, but he didn't want to just say no.

And just like that, Gohan had agreed to walk home with Rini after school that day. Throughout that day he'd gotten all sorts of funny looks because he'd walked in late with Rini. And Videl was exceedingly nice to him all day, which led to more funny looks at Gohan's expense. The school day just couldn't end soon enough for him. Once the bell rang to release the students, Gohan felt a great sense of relief. He wouldn't have Sharpner accusing him of "being involved with the new girl" or Erasa asking if it was true.

"Thank goodness that's over!" Gohan let a long sigh of relief escape his mouth. The two heroes were walking down the street in the direction of Rini's apartment complex.

"I am sorry that everyone was giving you those looks. It's kind of completely my fault, huh?" Rini grinned sheepishly. In reality, she didn't mind too much that people were creating rumors about them now. One reason for this was that she never cared too much about false rumors as long as they didn't hurt anyone. The other reason, well, she did kind of like Gohan.

"It's no big deal, really. It'll blow over in a few days, I'm sure." Gohan hoped he wouldn't get dirty looks from the population of male students that had joined Rini's fan club the same day that the scout had joined Orange Star High. He hadn't really noticed until today that she was so popular with the male students… other than Sharpner.

"Hey, Gohan," Rini's voice pulled the young Saiyan out of his thoughts, "Who's this 'Golden Fighter' that the class seems to be fascinated about? Is he another heroic friend of yours?" She looked up at him inquisitively. He noticed that she was much shorter than he was as he looked at her to answer.

"Er, something like that. Let's just say for now that flying, super strength and magical sailor scout transformations aren't the only things protecting this city." He once again rubbed the back of his neck with a free hand. Rini noticed but decided not to delve into it just yet. "I'm kind of curious about the scouts though."

"What about them?" Rini asked. She was pretty pleased that he exhibited such an interest.

"Well, why haven't they been very active for the last couple decades? One of my dad's friends said that they used to be everywhere in the news but then suddenly stopped appearing so much."

"Oh. Well, my mother defeated a really strong enemy and then wished to live peacefully with her friends. Er, it's a bit complicated to explain, really. I'm not sure it would make sense if I tried to relay it to you in detail. But her wish was granted and then my parents married after my dad finished school. Then not too long after that, I was born. I have my own generation of scouts, but most of what we've done since we were younger involves things like stopping robberies and smaller crime. I've never done anything too big, like saving the world, not yet." Rini seemed a little embarrassed to admit that as experienced as she was in heroics; she hadn't saved the world from any sort of horrible destruction. Gohan smiled at her.

"Don't worry; you'll get your shot someday. It's a great feeling to know that you kept the Earth safe from dying. I had a hand in taking down Cell about seven years ago."

"Cell…" Rini tried to recall the name because she knew it was familiar. "Oh! That was the green guy… the one that I thought looked like a bug. And he had that tail… Yeah, I remember hearing about a rag-tag team that went to the Cell Games. But the broadcast cut out before the conclusion came…" Her memory was good, though a tad fuzzy on the finer details.

"Rag-tag, huh?" Gohan raised a brow to that. Then he chuckled. "Yeah, that was probably us."

"So you were the young boy then?" Rini asked him.

"Yeah, that was me."

"Did you dye your hair or something?" Rini remembered the boy being blonde.

Gohan paused a moment, realizing he probably should've kept his mouth shut. "Well… you see… it's kind of a talent I have."

"To change your hair color?"

"I'll explain it another time." With a sigh, the Saiyan put a hand to his forehead as he shook his head lightly.

The two kept on talking as they walked. By the time they reached Rini's apartment, they'd learned a good amount about one another. Some past heroics as well as types of food that the other liked were just some examples. They were intent on talking more, but a distinct voice called to them from the front of Rini's apartment.

"Rini! You actually brought him! Wow, I'm surprised." Hotaru dashed up in front of the pair. She was grinning at Rini but then glanced at Gohan with narrowing eyes. She seemed to be sizing him up. This made the young Saiyan a tad nervous. Her dark violet eyes almost seemed as cold as death when they were directed at him.

"Hotaru, please don't try to intimidate him…" Rini called her friend off, almost more amused than she was serious.

"Fine." Hotaru then got close to Rini to whisper in her friend's ear. "He's pretty cute, and he seems extremely sincere. Almost _too_ sincere." The scout of Saturn then looked back at the shy Gohan, "You're Gohan, right?"

"Yes, that's me. Are you one of Rini's friends?"

"I'm Hotaru Tomoe. A university student and sworn protector of Rini," Hotaru said monotonously. She seemed so serious that Gohan didn't feel compelled to question her. Though he did wonder what she meant by 'sworn protector.'

"Part of what she means is that she's the protective best friend that gets suspicious every time I have a friend that happens to be a guy." Rini rolled her eyes. Including the princess bit wasn't even necessary because the best friend part was true enough for both roles.

"Oh, I see." Gohan looked at Hotaru. "Are you the one that wanted to meet me, Hotaru?"

"Yes, I am. And sadly, I can't say I disapprove of you." Hotaru's lips fell into a sort of pouting frown. She made it sound like she was trying to find something wrong with him to complain about.

"Well, thanks, I think." Gohan blinked a few times, unsure of whether she was relaying good news or bad news.

The trio walked inside the apartment where they were greeted by a cheerful Serena. She'd been thrown for a loop when she saw Rini had brought home an attractive young man. She started asking lots of questions about their relationship and other such things. While this was embarrassing to Rini, Gohan found it very similar to his own mother. Only a bit less obviously forceful. Chi Chi was definitely a bit more aggressive than Serena, but both were nosy in the affairs of their children. It was nice to know that her mother loved hr that much, but at the same time it was still unnerving to Gohan.

"Well, it's nice to know that Rini's made friends as sweet as you, Gohan." Serena smiled at the boy. He'd wound up staying for about thirty minutes so far and most of it had consisted of Serena and Hotaru asking Gohan questions about his life and Rini insisting that this was all unnecessary. Gohan answered most of the questions because none were horribly personal or would lead to them discovering that he wasn't all human.

"Thanks, Mrs. Tsukino." Gohan said with a humble downward glance. (Yes, I realize that Serena probably would end up taking Darien's surname when they married, which would be Shields… but Tsukino sounds so much cooler and I already gave Rini the surname Tsukino in chapter 1. At least if I'm going to make a mistake, it will consistent and I will be aware of it.)

"And you're so polite! That's not so easy to find in someone so young these days." Serena commented. The queen looked at the clock briefly and then heard the front door open. "I forgot to mention that your father is off early today, Rini."

"What, Dad's home?" Rini looked toward the hallway that led to the front door. Just seconds after, Darien walked through the doorway and saw that there was a young man with an Orange Star High School button sitting on a couch in his living room.

"Ah, we have company. Who might you be, young man?" The discomfort was very apparent in his tone.

"My name is Gohan, Sir. I'm a classmate of Rini's…" Gohan felt the evil vibe of a protective father and it was a bit scary to him. Gohan caught a glimpse of Hotaru and Serena smiling at one another with amused grins. Rini looked almost as uncomfortable as Gohan.

"Gohan, huh? Well, I do hope you treat our Rini with kindness." Darien kept his words concise and even.

"Oh, uh, we're not dating or anything, Sir. Really!" Gohan tried to assure the king.

"It's true, I had her invite him over for evaluation; and sadly, he's passed my test. He's a good person." Hotaru interjected on the Saiyan's behalf.

"I'll judge that myself in due time." Darien remarked and then trudged out of the room looking like a father who had just given his daughter away at the arch.

Serena giggled. "You'll have to forgive him, Gohan. He has been protective of her since before she was born."

"Yeah, it's fine." Gohan nodded, still sounding mildly overwhelmed. He glanced at his watch before continuing. "I should head out now. I have an errand to run before I get home today." He'd just thought of it not too long ago. Since he was going to fight in the tournament and they didn't allow head protection to the extent of helmets, he would have to ask Bulma for a costume change so that he could still fight under a secret identity.

"Aw, you really have to go already? Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner?" Serena offered him.

"Don't try to chase him away now, Serena." Hotaru laughed.

"Hey now…" Serena pouted at Hotaru.

Gohan held back a chuckle out of politeness and shook his head. "Sorry, maybe another time I could." He turned to Rini, "Thanks for inviting me over." Then he looked to the others, mostly Serena, "And thank you for having me. It was nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Serena and Hotaru both nodded toward Gohan.

Rini escorted him to the front door of the apartment. "I'm glad you seemed to enjoy yourself. Also, don't hesitate to give me a call if you ever need help with crime or anything." She smiled as she opened the door. The sun was already starting to set. Though it was a little early for this time of year. The apartment faced the west, which meant that the doorway was showered with sunlight as soon as the door opened. Rini, too, was bathed with the light. Gohan paused to stare for a moment. Rini's hair shone. Her eyes were brighter than usual, too, reflecting sunlight at whatever her eyes chose to look upon. In that instant, they chose to look at Gohan.

"Ah… yeah, of course. It's always nice working with you." Gohan pulled himself out of his daze as he realized he was in it. He smiled at her. No words were spoken for a few quiet moments as the two exchanged glances.

"Alright, then I'll see you around. Later, Gohan."

"Yeah, later." Gohan nodded awkwardly and then walked out. He started a jog as he neared the street corner.

Rini sighed as her cheeks reddened. _I think we just had a "moment." Wow, that was unexpectedly cheesy… but still nice._ She closed the door and went back to her family and Hotaru in the living room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Gohan entered Capsule Corporation minutes after leaving Rini's home. He'd tried to hurry over so the hour wouldn't become unreasonable even though Bulma assured him he was welcome at any time. Her husband, Vegeta, was the one who would snipe about seeing "Kakarot's son" showing up at their doorstep at night without any warning. Gohan wasn't sure why this bugged the prince so much, but he knew that if he came too late, he could expect an intense glaring and possibly a fistfight.

Bulma's mother had answered the door and led Gohan to sit at a table while Bulma finished working on something. The young Saiyan sipped quietly at the hot tea she'd served him while he waited.

"Hey there, Gohan! Wow, two visits in one week! What's going on?" Bulma came into the room wearing some casual work clothes that also looked suitable for riding a motorcycle. Trunks walked in behind her, soda in hand, having heard that Gohan was over.

"Sorry if I'm bothering you…" Gohan started, scratching the back of his neck. "You see, I need to talk to you about a costume adjustment for the upcoming martial arts tournament. They don't allow head protection in the tournament so I can't wear my helmet."

"First, it's no bother at all. Second, I'm surprised you're entering the tournament! It's not like you have to prove yourself or anything." Bulma told him, leaning against the doorframe for moment before walking over to a desk in the room.

"I know, but Videl Satan figured out my identity and she's blackmailing me into it!"

"Good grief, Gohan! You keep getting blackmailed by these girls! First that Angela, now some girl named Videl… that name sounds familiar… Videl Satan…" Bulma trailed off for a moment as she thought. She also grabbed for a pack of cigarettes on the desk. "Wait! She isn't Hercule's daughter, is she?"

"That's her. She's a classmate of mine at Orange Star. She's a good girl, but she can be pretty pushy. And now that she knows who I am, she wants to prove she's stronger than me by beating me in the tournament."

At Gohan's words, Trunks looked up from his soda as if he had thought of a solution to that problem. The eight-year-old mind tends to make things much simpler. Bulma fished a cigarette out of her pack. Without looking up at Gohan she asked, "So this Videl is rude and pushy… to you or to everyone?"

"Just me… Ever since I showed up as Saiyaman she's been hounding me and saying she wouldn't rest until she unmasked me! And she's not the type of girl you can keep a secret from." Gohan thought about it. She only ever really showed that side to him. She seemed really nice to everyone else, except maybe Sharpner.

"I see. Sounds like she likes you. Some girls show it by being mean, as weird as it sounds. You might be able to get out of the tournament by asking her on a date…" Bulma put a thoughtful finger to her chin.

"Er, I don't think that's such a good idea…" Gohan blushed a bit as an image of Rini flashed in his mind.

"Oh?" By now, the blue-haired Capsule Corporation president was puffing smoke from her cig.

"Just that I don't think she's the kind of girl that would go for that and-"

"You also don't want to because you were thinking of someone else." Bulma grinned, "Who is she?"

"She? Who? I wasn't thinking of anybody!" Gohan's flailing arms only made him look guilty of Bulma's accusation.

"Calm down," Bulma excused the matter with a wave of her hand. "Back to the task at hand… something that isn't a helmet. Hm, it's a shame; the helmet is a nice touch on a superhero." Bulma sighed as she puffed another cloud of smoke. Trunks looked up, wondering what his mom would think of now.

"It looks kind of stupid if you ask me…" Trunks mumbled.

"Videl did call it a trashcan…" Gohan frowned at the memory.

"Ouch! That hurts! I guess I don't know what's in nowadays! I must be getting old! Let's see, we need something simple and sheik… I think I know exactly what to do." Bulma seemed on the verge of an idea.

Minutes later, Bulma had outfitted Gohan with a turban and sunglasses in place of the helmet. Gohan seemed excited about the new look as he checked it out in a mirror nearby. Trunks just stood off to the side with a look of disbelief on his face. Of course, when asked, he said it looked plenty cool.

"I think you look really cool, but make sure you like it because your face is going to be plastered everywhere once you win!" Bulma told Gohan with a smile.

"Who says he's going to win?" Vegeta interrupted as he walked into the room.

"Who could possibly beat him?" Bulma looked at her husband.

"Yours truly, that's who! If you'll enter, I'll enter!" Vegeta directed his attention toward Gohan. Gohan seemed a bit surprised; he lifted his sunglasses up to his forehead and blinked a few times as Vegeta carried on.

"You were a lot stronger than me when we fought Cell, but while you've been hanging in the libraries and going out on dates, I've been doing nothing but severe training the entire time!" He said this with a ring of pride in his voice.

"Yup, that's _all_ you've been doing! I can vouch for that!" Bulma didn't seem too happy about Vegeta's priorities. She turned her attention to Gohan, "How is it that you Saiyans can train all day long but you can't mow the lawn or take out the trash?" Her arms were crossed as her brows furrowed. Gohan, for lack of an answer, put his shade back down as a small amount of redness could be seen in his cheeks.

"Cool! Dad and Gohan are going to fight, wow!" Trunks clearly liked the idea.

"I think I'll enter too!" a voice familiar to all in the room but Trunks rang through everyone's ears. The voice continued, "Gohan…"

"Is that you, Dad?" Gohan asked in the direction of the ceiling.

"Now way, wow." Bulma muttered.

Even Vegeta let out a "Kakarot?"

"It's you! It's really you!" Gohan was overjoyed to hear his father's voice for the first time since losing him in the fight with Cell.

"Hi son, it's great to hear your voice again." Goku may not have been in the room but anyone who heard him could see him with a smile on his face.

"Dad! Unbelievable! You're here!"

The wonder wore off of Trunks' face as confusion set in, "Where is he?"

"Trunks, you haven't been telling Gohan the truth about his costume, have you?" A chuckle, most likely belonging to King Kai followed Goku's question.

Gohan, ignoring the comment on his costume, was too thrilled for words. "This is great! Father, are really coming back to compete in the world championships?"

"Yeah! I'm allowed to come back for one day! Baba checked it out for me; it appears I have a little credit! I'm excited! I can't wait to see everyone! Tell your mom I'm coming back for a whole day!"

"Yeah, alright!" Gohan cheered with joy.

"He's flipped, Dad." Trunks said to his father.

"No, son, his dad's coming back. Even I'm excited, Kakarot, at having another chance to defeat you." Vegeta smirked with anticipation.

"Mhm, we'll see. I guess anything's possible. Miracles do happen." Goku's voice sounded only a little cocky, but he said this all with good humor.

"Miracles, huh? I can't wait!" The eagerness for a challenge always got to Saiyans and Vegeta was certainly no exception to this.

"This is great, Gohan! After you tell your mom, you should go to Master Roshi's. Krillin's going to flip when he hears!" Bulma suggested. Gohan looked to Bulma and nodded.

"Right, definitely!" the young hero's smile was overflowing with joy. "Oh, hey, Vegeta, if you're going to compete, you should wear a disguise. Maybe something like mine?"

"No way! I wouldn't be caught dead in that thing!" Vegeta growled indignantly as he rejected Gohan's idea.

(I know there is a bit in here where Gohan gets a shot at being in a movie, but I will make a special chapter for that… teehee! And Rini will be part of it too!)

Soon after the news and a little mishap with a movie director, Gohan went to Roshi's house to tell Krillin. Granted it was getting darker and later, he knew Krillin wouldn't mind a visit if it brought news of Goku's return. Krillin was just as overjoyed as Gohan about his best friend's return to the world of the living. 

"What? No way! Goku's going to compete? This is amazing! Wow!" Krillin clenched his fists excitedly as he looked eagerly at Gohan. (Then Gohan breaks the forth wall…)

"Goku? Well, what do you know…" Roshi commented from his beach chair. He was looking at a magazine. The cover had a pretty blonde girl with wavy hair and cute lips. (That's all I can deduce from the screen in front of me.)

"Well, if you and Goku and Vegeta are gonna enter, then why should I enter?" Krillin asked. He knew he wasn't nearly as strong as the Saiyans even if he had always fought alongside them.

"Aw, come on, Krillin, it'll be great!" Gohan tried to persuade his friend.

"I know it would be fun and all. Fighting in another world martial arts tournament with Goku almost sounds too good to be true. But I would have to start training a lot and I don't know how my wife would feel about that." Krillin considered the possibility that he might have to take out the trash or mow the lawn, unlike the Saiyans. (Except that there's really no "lawn" at Roshi's place.)

As Krillin said this, a ball bounced out the front door of Roshi's place to where he and Gohan stood talking. Krillin and Gohan turned to see a small blonde girl in a pink dress. She couldn't have been more than 4 years old.

"Hey, Dad! Get the ball, get it, Dad!" She squeaked as she chased the ball to her dad's side. Her voice was high-pitched like many children when they are younger.

Krillin picked up the ball and handed it to his daughter with a smile. "There you go, Marron, you little firefly!"

"Wow, she's adorable, Krillin." Gohan complimented, then directed his words to Marron, "How would you like to see your dad fight in a martial arts tournament?"

"First she'd want to know if there's any prize money involved." Krillin's fiery wife appeared in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

"Oh, hi! Nice to see you!" Gohan smiled at Eighteen. "They pay out to the top five places. The overall winner of the tournament gets paid ten million zeni. Then it goes on down. Second place gets five million and third place gets three million.

"Enter, Krillin! _I_ will! Why not?"

Krillin looked down with his arms crossed. He didn't really seem like he wanted to enter the tournament with so many strong people entering. He groaned.

"Hey, Dad," Marron piped up, "if you fight, I'll watch you!"

"Thanks, sweetheart." Krillin told his daughter. Eighteen walked up and put a gentle hand on their daughter's head while keeping a stern voice with Krillin.

"Come on, Krillin!"

"Yeah, Dad! You'll win if you do!" Marron was making a bigger statement than she knew, but it was sweet nonetheless. (D'aawwwww, so cute!)

"Well… if you say so… I'll do it!" Krillin looked up at his wife as he declared this. He was smiling. Gohan smiled behind him too. This would be a great reunion.

"Maybe I should enter too, what do you think?" Master Roshi chirped in from his chair.

"No way! You're too old!" Marron's squeaky voice stabbed Roshi in the heart.

Krillin turned to Gohan. "Hey, let's not tell Piccolo about it! That way, I'll have a better chance of getting into the top five!" He seemed excited about this plan.

"Oh… I don't know, Krillin, I was going to tell him too." Gohan wrinkled his nose at the idea. He thought Piccolo had a right to know the news of Goku's return.

"Alright. But if you won't do me this favor, I'm going to have to be honest about your outfit." Krillin and his family stood, looking at Gohan's clothes in silence.

Gohan raised a brow. "What do you mean? I'm at the pinnacle of style! I think you've lost your fashion sense living out here so long!" While the young Saiyan made an excellent point about Krillin living at Master Roshi's house on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean, he wasn't exactly at the pinnacle of style. "Ciao!" Gohan waved and then took off again. His next destination was Piccolo's lookout.

After arriving and telling yet another person of Goku's plan to return for the upcoming tournament, Gohan was definitely going to be home late.

"Goku? If he's entering, it should be one to remember." The Namekian smiled upon hearing this news. His pointed ears and green skin were as green and pointy as ever. And he wore the same blue clothing, white cape and turban and let's not forget the pointy little booties.

"So what do you say?"

"Sure, kid. It actually sounds like fun." Piccolo agreed to enter the tournament with very little swaying needed.

"I'll bet Dende would enjoy the tournament as well." Mr. Popo offered the Earth's Namekian guardian a chance to compete as well.

"Thanks, but I'm not much of a fighter. I think I'd better stick to healing." Dende declined the offer straight away. (He probably has less of a chance than Krillin.)

Gohan smiled, still brimming with joy.

"I do have one question," Piccolo started. "You're not going to wear that at the tournament, are you?" The Namekian referred to Gohan's Saiyaman costume, of course.

"What? Man, not you too! You don't think my outfit looks good?" Gohan's voice sounded a bit defensive as he looked at Piccolo.

"Gohan, I can't lie to you. It looks ridiculous."

"Oh, my." Mr. Popo sounded as if Piccolo had just revealed a big secret. Dende just watched quietly. Gohan was offended, but he collected himself and said his farewells. Then he flew off to his home.

It was dark as Gohan reached his house out in the mountains. He quickly ran in and told Chichi all about Goku's plan to come back for the tournament over dinner.

"What? Oh my gosh, Goku's coming back after all this time? This is unbelievable!" Chichi stood up, surprised to say the least.

"Mhm." Gohan confirmed looking up at his mother from his bowl and chopsticks.

"I don't know what to think! Your father's really coming home!" Chichi exclaimed. She then put one arm around Goten, who is sitting next to her, and hugged him with both arms. This lifted him out of his seat and away from his food. "Great news, son! You get to meet your daddy! Isn't that wonderful! You get to meet your daddy!" By the time Chichi put Goten down again, she had tears welling up in her eyes. Gohan saw this and it made him feel a little bittersweet. "Good heavens, boys! This is too good to be true! But I'm in trouble aren't I? I look so old now and Goku probably hasn't aged a bit! People don't age in Other World, do they? Maybe I should have a facial and get my hair done and keep myself from crying so my face doesn't get all puffy! What do you think, boys?"

"Yeah, sure, Mom. And, by the way, since Dad's competing in the championships, do think I could as well?" Gohan muttered his question. He knew he'd have to ask since he was still under her roof. His question went unheard for two reasons: 1) He was muttering into his food and 2) Chichi was daydreaming.

"Wow, my stars!"

"Earth to Mom!" Gohan raised his voice just enough to get Chichi's attention.

"Gohan, what are you saying?" Chichi woke up from her daydreaming to ask her son.

"Well I'd like your permission to enter the championships and to miss some school so I can train…?" Gohan knew asking for time off from school wouldn't go over well. And Chichi didn't let him down on that. She suddenly exploded with rage. Goten ate his food as he watched his mother and brother.

"What? Are you serious?"

"Yeah, of course!"

"Gohan! You've got to be kidding! You know your studies take priority over everything else! What's wrong with you?"

"Mom! Dad's only going to be here for a day! I'll never get this chance again!"

"You'll never get this chance to prepare for college again if you blow this one, Gohan!"

"But the winner gets paid ten million zeni, Mom! If I win, it'll be like getting a big scholarship!"

Chichi screamed. "You could get a P.H.D. with that kind of cash! Wow, my son, a P.H.D. Wonderful! Of course you can enter, Gohan! Of course you can!" Chichi ceased arguing.

Gohan, after nearly having a heart attack at his mother's excitement over the money, was heading to bed with his brother. The brothers were lying in bed next to each other and Gohan turned out the light.

"Goodnight, Goten."

"Goodnight, Gohan."

Gohan put his hands behind his head and looked over at his little brother. "Hey, you're going to help train aren't you? I'm going to need a real strong training partner!"

"Sure!" Goten nodded excitedly. After pausing Goten spoke up again. "Gohan, what's my dad like?"

Gohan looked up at the stars that could be seen in the window. "He's like an angel, Goten."

"What's an angel like?" Goten wasn't sure because he'd never met one as far as he knew.

"I don't know. I just know that when they're around, you feel happy inside." Gohan told his little brother.

The two slept soundly that night so that they could be ready to train the next day. Gohan and Goten would be going through some rigorous training for Gohan to even stand a chance of winning after years of not doing much training.

The next day at school, Rini noticed that Gohan wasn't present. She looked at his empty seat curiously. _I wonder where he is. I certainly hope he isn't caught up in some sort of trouble._ The worry on her face wasn't hidden well.

"Class, seeing as Gohan isn't here today, would anyone want to take him his homework after school?" The teacher asked. Rini's hand bolted up first. Followed by Erasa and Videl. But the teacher handed the folder with homework to Rini and thanked her for volunteering.

Rini smiled. _Well, I'll ask him later. Good thing there's a student directory. _


	5. Chapter 4 SPECIAL?

SPECIAL CHAPTER- Saiyaman Makes a Movie?

Rini was walking through town with Hotaru after Gohan left. The sun was almost finished setting at this point. The two girls had been a little bored at the apartment so they'd decided to go out somewhere. The only problem was that Rini wasn't sure what they could do. Soon, a gunshot sounded nearby.

"A gun?" Hotaru asked, alarmed. She looked at Rini and saw that Rini was also looking for the source of the shot.

"It came from those cars over there!" Rini pointed at some cars on the highway; they appeared to be in some sort of high-speed chase! The girls exchanged glances and nodded.

"Pink Moon Crystal Power!"

"Saturn Crystal Power!"

Mini Moon and Saturn now stood in their scout uniforms. Mini Moon led the way and the two ran along the side of the road to try and find a way to catch up to the cars.

After hearing the news of his father's return, Gohan was intent to go to Master Roshi's house to tell Krillin the news. However, on his way, he saw what appeared to be a high-speed chase. The car fleeing had a young woman in it and the chasing car had two thugs aiming guns at the young woman and the thugs had just managed to shoot out her windows. Gohan knew he had to stop and take care of this even if he did have big news to pass on.

Saiyaman flew down right in front of the chasing car and used his inhumanly strong leg to stop it. He simply put his foot up on the bumper. The car stopped as if it had careened into a wall. The force from his leg had caused the occupants of the car to fly out onto the street nearby.

Mini Moon and Saturn just arrived on the scene as the occupants flew out.

"Oh my gosh, who is that weirdo?" Hotaru muttered to Rini. Rini giggled.

"That's Gohan in his super hero costume. It's not the coolest costume on the planet, but he's good at what he does!" Rini felt her cheeks warming as if she were embarrassed for Gohan.

"Seriously, Mini Moon?" Saturn tried to contain her laughter, but was failing miserably.

"Shame on you, shooting a gun at a helpless lady!" Gohan declared with his hands on his hips, his cape blowing slightly in the breeze.

"Fool! Idiot! Dope!" One of the occupants, more closely related to a boar of some kind than a man from his appearance, shouted at Gohan as he grabbed his wrist. He had probably hurt it upon impact on the ground.

Gohan chuckled at the futile attempts to insult him. It made no difference if he was insulted, these guys were still caught. "All wrong. Not even close, friend! So you want to know my name, huh? I am the defender of justice and truth, I am the Great-!" And Gohan was suddenly punched in the back of the head by none other than the woman whose life he had just saved.

Mini Moon saw this, and with great confusion, walked forward with Saturn at her side. "Saiyaman… are you okay?" Rini went over to Gohan to make sure he wasn't hurt. Hotaru followed quietly as she examined the scene.

"Mini Moon…" Gohan was a little off guard when he realized she was here. "Ah, yes. I'm fine." Gohan put a hand on the back of his head. He kind of missed the helmet at this point.

"You big dummy! How dare you! What do you think you're doing! Now I have to do it all over again!" The woman who had hit the hero was livid. This left the trio of heroes thinking something was wrong here.

As Saiyaman stood up, the woman got in his face to continue screaming, "It took me all day to get that take right and when I did, you blew it!" Something clicked in Gohan's brain right there.

"Cut! What is going on down there? Saiyaman's not supposed to be in this scene!" A director and a cameraman appeared suddenly being lowered on a piece of machinery. "Hey, you, that was a great stunt, but we've got to stick to the script, understand?" The director shouted from his seat. He had red hair and was a bit shorter than the average man.

"Scene?" Mini Moon and Saturn exchanged glances. They hadn't been aware of any movies being filmed in town.

"Who, me? Gohan responded to the director, not sure what else to say.

"Of course you! There are plenty of stunt men in this town! The next time you do that, you're fired!" the director shouted again. His voice sounded serious and very angry.

"I am…?" Gohan muttered under his breath. He didn't recall getting a job in the first place, but he guessed he was being mistaken for someone else.

"Places! Let's see if we can get it right this time, people!" Following this command, lots of people came out of nearby bushes and were sighing and moaning and groaning about how the stunt man screwed it up.

Mini Moon and Saturn walked up to Saiyaman's side. Saturn punched his shoulder lightly, "I think you've just interrupted a big film."

"I, uh, guess I should've known better…" Gohan sighed.

The director looked at the two sailor scouts for a moment before addressing them. "Mini Moon! What are you doing here! You're not in this scene either! You don't even meet Saiyaman until scene 7!"

"What? Oh, er, sorry, Boss!" Rini apologized, feeling a bit embarrassed as she bowed her head.

"And you!" The director pointed at Saturn, "Who are you supposed to be?"

"I'm Sailor Saturn, Sir! Just getting in the sailor scout spirit!" Hotaru made this up on the spot and instantly wished she'd said something else once it had come out.

"According to all our information, Saturn was the previous scout generation! She's old news, now! We don't need that in on our movie set!"

"Old news?" Hotaru growled. Rini put a hand on her friend's shoulder to calm her.

"It just means you need to make an appearance?" Rini suggested quietly.

Minutes later, the actors were getting ready for the next scene as Rini, Gohan, and Hotaru were standing on the side of the action still in their hero guises. Gohan looked at a poster on the side of a building that was advertising the Saiyaman movie. It was a shot of Saiyaman flying towards the viewer and with two ladies in the background: the one from earlier and Mini Moon.

"Wow! I can't believe it, a Saiyaman movie! Goten's gonna flip!

"Goten?" Rini asked.

"Oh, he's my little brother." Gohan told her.

"You have a little brother?"

"Yeah, he's seven right now-" he was going to give Goten a little more introduction, but was cut off by the screaming of the actor playing Saiyaman.

"No! I'm afraid of heights! Nobody told me that I'd have to do this! No! Don't let go! No! No!"

The camera crew and the director were losing patience. The director knew he'd have to fire the actor if he couldn't do his part. But on such short notice, where would they find an actor to replace him? He posed this question to his assistant. "I can't believe this! That guy was a dead-ringer for Saiyaman! Where are we going to find another guy like that? We're already a week behind!"

Gohan, upon hearing the director's words, came into a fit of laughter. "You really think that guy looks like me?"

"You?" the director questioned.

"Well, I just mean like Saiyaman. I just think that I look a lot more like Saiyaman than he does."

Saturn and Mini Moon nodded a bit.

After a few moments of observing Gohan, the assistant said to the director, "He doesn't look anything like Saiyaman!"

"Darn it, you're right. But at this point, I'm willing to take just about anybody. Even a pathetic guy like that."

Next thing he knew, Gohan was standing on a bridge over looking some water edged by shore. The crew had the camera pointed at him, ready to go. Mini Moon and Saturn had moved into the crowd of people to get a better view of Gohan.

"Excuse me, Sir, what exactly am I supposed to do?"

"Announce to the villains who you are! Are you ready?"

"Yeah." Gohan nodded.

Rini put a hand to her forehead, "Good gravy."

Hotaru looked at Rini for a moment, smiled and then looked back up at Gohan. She could tell something amusing and possibly embarrassing was about to happen.

The director called 'action!' and Gohan was doing a series of poses!

"I am the defender of liberty and justice, champion of the weak, shielder of oppression-!"

"CUT! What the heck was that! You're a superhero you fool! Why are you dancing around like a cheerleader?" the director was less than pleased with Saiyaman's dramatic poses.

"Ahahahahahahahaha!" Hotaru was laughing. Her hands covered her stomach as it started to hurt. Her eyes were even close to tearing from so much laughter. Rini sighed as she scratched her head.

"Cheerleader…?" Gohan was disappointed to hear himself compared to something like that when he was a superhero.

He tried again. More silly poses and more silly phrases didn't seem to impress the director one bit. Gohan kept at it though, hoping something he said would get the director's praise. But no such luck for the young Saiyan. To take a break from looking foolish, the director decided to have Gohan shoot a different scene, this one with Mini Moon.

"Alright, in this scene, Saiyaman is wounded and Mini Moon comes to his side, worried for his well-being. Saiyaman is alright, but Mini Moon starts crying with worry and this will hint to the viewer that the heroes have some feelings for one another."

Both heroes blushed tremendously. "What?"

Hotaru chuckled, her ribs still sore from earlier. "I think it's a fabulous idea, Mr. Director! I have had my suspicions about the two since they work together now!"

"A lot of people are having suspicions about it, so we've decided to give in to speculation to grab a larger audience." The director nodded.

"Saturn…" Mini Moon pouted at her friend.

The actor took his place on the ground, looking like he was in pain through his sunglasses, and the director called the scene to action.

Rini, sighing and wondering how she got pulled into all this, ran over to Gohan. "Saiyaman! Are you alright?" She put her hands on the sides of his face and knelt down to look at him as if he were actually injured. She knew the better she did at acting this out, the fewer times she'd have to say this over and over.

"I-I'm fine, Mini Moon. Don't worry about me. You have to go help the town…" Gohan could barely focus on his lines with her so close to him.

"But you're hurt… I don't want to leave you like this…" Rini was doing a great job at making herself sound genuinely upset.

"The people need you. I'll catch up later." Gohan reached up with one hand and cupped her chin with it. He wasn't sure if that was actually in the script, but the director hadn't called a cut yet, so he must've been okay with it.

"I know they need me, but right now you do too…" And then Rini forced herself to tear up. A tear fell on Gohan's face and he paused, a bit shocked.

Off the set, the director was getting into the heat of the moment. "Come on, kid, this scene is great, don't forget your next words." He mumbled this just loud enough for those around him to hear.

Hotaru took this moment to gather the attention of a random crew member to voice her opinion. "It's moments like this where Saturn would be perfect. She'd show up and tell them to take their time as she held off the threat." Her arms were crossed in a showy manner. The random crew member just looked at her and then back at the scene.

"Mini Moon, I… I don't want you to cry over me. Nothing is worth a tear from your eyes." Gohan was blushing lightly as he said this. He was pretty sure he butchered the line, but it was kind of close to what he was supposed to say.

"I'll cry over whatever I see fit to cry over." Rini said this with a little attitude while still maintaining her tears. She knew her lines well enough from skimming the script earlier. And it was surprisingly cheesy and romantic.

Gohan sat up a little bit, using a piece of the set designed to look like debris from a building to prop himself up. This sudden movement caused Mini Moon to release his face. He wiped a tear from one of her eyes and once again held her chin in his hand. She held back her tears a bit, trying her best to look surprised by the kind gesture.

"Saiyaman, promise me you'll be at the final battle." She said to him with a serious tone that still held worry and sorrow.

"I promise I'll be at your side when we take down the villain once and for all. And you promise me something. You won't get as badly wounded as me." Gohan remembered this line and tried to do a half-hearted chuckle.

Rini chuckled as half-heartedly as Gohan and nodded. "I promise." She paused for a moment and looked at his eyes (behind the sunglasses). This was usually the moment where the leads would kiss and the audience would be satisfied that the two had _finally_ done so. But there was no kissing in this scene. Just a long stare.

"…And CUT! That was excellent, you two!" the director shouted from his seat at the side. "We were all pulled in! Young lady, you truly brought his skills up to your level!" he'd said this to Rini and she blushed as she stood up with a smile. She quickly wiped her eyes under the edge of her mask and flashed a grin at the crew. Gohan stood up as well, an even shade of red spread over his face.

"Saiyaman! You have one more scene and then we'll call it a wrap for the day!" the director told him.

As the crew readied the next scene, Gohan, Rini and Hotaru stood together, chatting.

"Wow, that scene seemed so real, you guys." Hotaru applauded.

"Thanks. I do pride myself on my acting." Rini smiled and winked.

"You learned from Mina, didn't you?" Hotaru asked.

"Yeah, she taught me a bit a few years ago when I had that part in that play at school…"

"Oh yeah! When you had to kiss that one boy…" Hotaru remembered. She then looked at Gohan, wondering why he was so quiet. "Saiyaman… why are you not talking?"

"Huh? Oh, just thinking. Sorry." Gohan seemed like he had just been pulled out of a deep sleep. The scouts looked at him curiously.

"Are you okay?" Rini scooted up to him and put her forehead to his to feel his temperature. "Nah, you don't have a fever… but your face is definitely giving off a great amount of heat." She could feel the heat emitting from his cheeks around her face.

"Oh, well, I just need some water… Hehehe…" Gohan back away and went to the nearest water cooler to get something to drink.

The crew was readying Gohan for the final scene of the day. They were currently fastening thick wires to Gohan and getting a crane to the set.

"Oh yeah, did you ever get that errand done?" Hotaru asked Gohan from where she and Rini stood at his side.

"Errand… oh! That's right! I still have to make it to Master Roshi's house!" Gohan realized that he'd forgotten all about telling Krillin that his father was coming back to fight in the tournament. But the crane was suddenly hoisting Gohan up as he remembered his errand.

_Oh darn, I can't believe how late it is! I got so caught up in this that stopped paying attention to the time!_ The crane placed Gohan gently on top of a building. The director called 'action!'

As Gohan stood motionless, the director became annoyed by his standing still. "Come on! Just hold your arms out in front of you and fly! We've got a professional crane operator over there!"

"Looks like I have to go…" Gohan jumped off of the building and started flying, still hooked up to the cables that were supposed to keep him airborne. Then he waved to Rini and Hotaru and took his speed up a notch. This was just enough strain to snap the wires so that he could keep going.

As he flew off, the wind from his speed blew over many parts of the set and the crew stood in awe. Mini Moon and Saturn took this opportunity to disappear as well. Once Gohan let it be known that the real Saiyaman had been on set, surely the crew would suspect that real sailor scouts would be there as well.

"It's not possible…" the director said, watching Saiyaman fly away.

"He was the real thing…" the director's assistant added on to the director's sentence.

The two stood for a moment and then looked around for Mini Moon.

"Where'd our Mini Moon go? Don't tell me… we had both of the real ones on set today?" the director fell to his knees from shock.

From around the corner, Hotaru and Rini (now in their civilian clothes) poked their heads around to look. Both sighed.

"Well, that was certainly a good way to keep ourselves distracted for a couple hours." Rini smiled at her friend.

Hotaru nodded, "Yeah, it was fun watching you guys. Only issue is… do you think they're going to keep the footage from today? I mean, you and Gohan probably aren't going back to filming tomorrow…"

"That's right, we could've possibly delayed the movie's release ever more. Haha, oops." Rini stuck out her tongue and winked at Hotaru.

"Oh well. I'm sure they'll get it eventually."

"Let's go back to the apartment." Rini smiled at her friend as they walked down the street.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Alright, I must say that I'm sorry my previous chapters (AND this one) were a little late. I recently moved for school purposes and I have been swamped with homework. Art school gives A LOT of homework… which I kind of expected.**

**I would like to apologize because, upon reviewing my latest chapters and some reviews from the readers (you guys), I did find some grammatical errors that make me feel ashamed. I may get around to updating those with corrections if I can pull aside the time. Chances are that if my stories seem rushed when you read them… well, they probably were a little rushed. **

**Also, I got some feedback asking for a little more Sailor Moon type content in the story. I will get to more Rini-focused chapters eventually (this next one seems like it will play out that way), but let's remember what I said in the beginning. **_**"This takes place about 20 years after the scouts fought Galaxia and during the time that Gohan is at Orange Star High. In fact, I'm considering at this point on **__**modifying the entire Buu Saga**__**. XD But that's if I can stick to it long enough. Anyway, since it's so long after the fight with Galaxia, the scouts have been living pretty peacefully and have become less than common knowledge on Earth."**_

**All in all, thank you all for reading and providing me with feedback. I do appreciate it very much and hope I can pull through most, if not all, of the Buu saga! Now I'll get on with the story.**

**Chapter 5**

Rini sat in class, staring at the clock at the front of the room. School would be out soon and then she would go to the student directory and figure out where Gohan's house is. Then she'd have to go there. She did remember hearing that he lived quite a long way out of town. She'd have to figure out how she was going to get there. Maybe a good, old fashioned 'Sailor Teleport' would suffice? But she usually needed at least one other scout with her to do that.

Rini's pondering was interrupted by the intercom.

"_Could Serenity Tsukino please report to the nurse's office? Serenity Tsukino to the nurse's office. Thank you."_

"Dang intercoms. I'll let you go Miss Tsukino, since we don't have much time left for the day anyway." The teacher said this as Rini stood up and gathered her things and put them into her school bag. She bowed her head to the teacher ever so slightly as she came to the front of the class and then rushed out the door as quickly as she could without running.

_Nurse's office? Why am I being paged to the nurse's office? Unless…_ As Rini came to the doorway of her destination, her thoughts happened upon the possibility that Setsuna was there. Her quick-paced walking slowed and her hair, which had been flowing elegantly behind her, swayed as she stopped and peeked in the room.

"Small Lady, it's a pleasure to see you haven't changed a bit." The voice of a beautiful green-haired woman filled Rini's ears. She smiled toward a corner of the office where she saw Setsuna sitting at a desk. The dark-skinned woman stood up and appeared to float toward Rini. The princess lunged at her friend with a strong hug.

"Setsuna! You're here! Does that mean you live in town now?" She loosened her hug but kept her arms around her friend. Rini was feeling overjoyed now. She wouldn't be without all the scouts anymore.

"I am moved in now. I live about half of a mile down the street from you and your parents. But tell me, how have you been? I trust you're not having any trouble adapting?"

"I've been fine. I trust you've been keeping tabs on the city?" The two finally separated from their hug as Rini's smile turned sly.

"Yes, and the others have as well. You started working with this 'Saiyaman' character. You should've seen the looks on Haruka and Michiru's faces! And also, the inner and asteroid scouts were curious if you were dating him?" Setsuna giggled as she smiled her lovely smile at her young princess.

"What? No, we're not dating!" Rini blushed and held up her hands defensively.

"No need to get flustered, Small Lady. However, he seems like a good young man. Very strong, that's for certain. And he seems kind as well." As Setsuna spoke, she held up an index finger as if she was trying to make an important point. Rini caught on to this and calmed just enough to the point that her face was only a light shade of pink.

"Well, I do like him, I guess." She muttered, avoiding eye contact for a moment before looking directly into Setsuna's eyes. "But please don't tell anybody else that yet! I don't want them to start giving me advice or asking me embarrassing questions about it. Besides, I still don't know him as a person very well…"

Setsuna giggled again at Rini's actions. Then, put a hand on the young girl's head and patted twice in a gentle manner. "Don't worry, I won't tell a soul. I'm glad that you're being mature about it and giving yourself time to get to know him a little. Changing the subject, do you have plans this afternoon?"

"Er, actually, I volunteered to deliver homework to a classmate once school is over…" Rini's gazed shifted to the clock momentarily, "… in about five minutes. So I need to head to the student directory soon."

"Oh, well just tell me the name. The computer here has all the contact information for the students just in case we need to contact their homes about an emergency." Setsuna walked gingerly back to her computer at the desk and sat down ready to type.

"Son Gohan is his name. I think he lived a long way out of town." Rini waited a few seconds as Setsuna typed and stared at the computer screen. The quiet was suddenly ended when the older woman let out a light gasp.

"Yikes! That's pretty far out there! He literally lives in the mountains! How are you going to get there?" Setsuna asked her with a hint of concern. She didn't think Rini had five hours available to get a car to ride up there and then another five hours after that to go home.

Rini peeked over Setsuna's shoulder to take a quick gander at the screen. She saw the location and knew that she'd need a fast method of getting there and back if she planned to be home for school the next day. Perhaps a plane? But where would Rini get one of … _Videl! She has a plane! And she has a special license to fly it! _All Rini had to do was ask… but she wasn't sure how the daughter of Hercule would respond. Videl had raised her hand to volunteer too. And asking for a ride almost made Rini's volunteering pointless.

"Well, I have a thought." A voice came from the doorway. The two ladies looked up just the person Rini was thinking about. Videl was leaning against the frame of the door with her arms crossed. Her blues eyes were gauging the reactions of the two ladies.

"Videl? Hey there… What's your thought?" Rini almost imitated Gohan's nervous habit of scratching the back of her head, but resisted the urge. Videl straightened up and smiled as she walked forward.

"I could give you a ride. I was planning on heading over there anyway. That's why I tried to volunteer." Videl smiled as Rini felt a little sheepish for worrying. She knew Videl was really a good person, but she also knew that Videl was a bit pushy. Though the pushiness was mostly directed at Gohan. Videl looked at Setsuna and nodded in her direction, "Are you the new nurse that I've heard about?" Her voice resonated with politeness.

"I am the new nurse, though I can't say for sure if I'm the one you've heard about." Setsuna smiled and winked. Videl stared for a moment, captured by the beauty and elegance that the older woman seemed to exude.

"You get used to her eventually." Rini said to Videl with an excusing glance toward her friend.

"Oh? So you know each other?"

"She's a good friend of my family. And family of a good friend." Rini referred, of course, to Hotaru. Setsuna had been the girl's guardian since Professor Tomoe had been mentally unstable for a few years with the enemies and whatnot. Even though he had regained his senses at some point, Setsuna had regularly visited the girl and acted as a mother would. She'd also been like a godmother to Rini ever since the princess had been little.

"I see. So, would you like a ride to Gohan's house?"

"If you don't mind the extra company, I'd be delighted! I don't think I can make good time by driving, much less by walking."

"Alright, then let's get going," Videl said to Rini as the release bell rang. Both girls said their farewells to Setsuna and then rushed outside to the roof where Videl tossed her Capsule Corporation plane capsule. The capsule released what appeared to be smoke; when that cleared away, a small plane was parked perfectly on the roof. They both hopped in and buckled up. (Buckling up is a good thing to do when you're in moving vehicles so that you don't smash your face into windows or the glove compartments! End of obligatory safety lesson.) Videl turned on the plane and the girls were on their way to Gohan's house.

As Videl flew the plane, Rini looked at the girl's profile from the passenger seat. Videl was actually a very pretty girl. Her pale complexion was complemented by her dark hair which also helped to emphasize her blue eyes. Though Rini felt that Videl could do a different style with her hair, preferably something that wasn't pigtails. It was then that Videl felt eyes watching her and glanced over at Rini briefly.

"What's up?" Videl asked, curious what was on her classmate's mind.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just noticed that you're quite pretty, that's all." Rini found no harm in being honest about her thoughts. "But you don't do much with your hair. It's a nice color and a good length; you could do quite a bit with it."

"Oh, thanks." Videl blushed lightly as her eyes stayed focused on the sky in front of them. "I'm always just so busy that I don't really care to do anything with it. If anyone in our class was going to be called pretty, I think it would be you."

"What? Me? Thank you. I mean, I hear it from those guys at school during and in between classes all the time, but I can tell that you're genuine when you say it." Rini smiled.

"When I was little, my mom used to say that a woman who is beautiful has someone that she wants to be beautiful for."

"Did she? My mom is like that too. And watching her with my dad, I can see it there. My hope is to find someone I can be like that for." Rini admitted; the mood suddenly became a bit mushy.

"Yeah? I don't think you'll have a problem with that when the time comes. As for me, I want to be stronger than my father." Videl glanced over toward Rini again.

Rini tilted her head. _I wonder what she would tell me if I said that she's already stronger than her dad. I doubt she'd believe me._

After Rini's silence, Videl let out a chuckle. "I know, it sounds a bit strange, but it's possible. I'm sure of that!"

Both girls smiled and kept chatting on the way to Gohan's house. Soon enough, they'd reached the mountains and were looking for a house. Rini pointed to it once she saw it. Videl nodded and prepared for landing.

Once on the ground, the girls hopped out of the plane. Videl pushed a button on the outside of the plane that made it go back into the capsule. Rini marveled for a moment. She really ought to invest in these Capsule Corporation gadgets, she thought.

Videl wasted no time in reaching the front door. She knocked loudly and distinctly on the front door of the house. Rini surveyed the area for a few moments while the two waited for an answer. The mountains were so tall and the trees were so green. The young princess felt as if the nature surrounding them was calming in a way. Birds not found in the city were singing quietly and there were some frogs making noise of their own in some pond not too far off. Yes, this was much like one of those nature sound CDs.

Rini's thoughts were interrupted by a woman raising her voice at Videl. She hadn't even realized that there had been an answer at the door. It must be Gohan's mother; she had a similar face and the black hair. The woman and Videl seemed to be on the verge of arguing.

"Excuse me?" Rini's voice fluctuated in a way that grabbed attention of the woman.

"Yes? And who are _you_?" The way Gohan's mother emphasized 'you' told Rini that she was expecting to hear something rude.

"I'm sorry if we've come at an inconvenient time but, you see, we thought it was important to deliver Gohan's homework to him. He does so well in class; I'd hate to see him fall behind." Rini bowed her head slightly as she presented the homework assignment. The sincere tone used softened the older woman's stone expression.

"Oh, well why didn't you say so? When Gohan gets home, I'll let him know." The woman reached for the homework and gently took it from Rini. "What's your name, by the way?"

"My full name is Serenity Tsukino, but most people call me Rini." Gesturing to her right, where Videl stood, Rini continued, "And this is Videl Satan. It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Son."

"Oh, you can just call me Chichi." Right as his mother finished this sentence, Gohan and a little boy ran up to the house. Gohan was wearing a solid dark blue gi with a red belt; this was much different compared to his school clothes, mostly because his well-muscled arms were on display.

"Sorry I wasn't here when you guys arrived. I wasn't expecting either of you today…" Gohan's nervous tick took over again.

"Don't think you can sneak out of our deal just because you're not in school!" Videl narrowed her eyes toward Gohan.

"Like I said, I'm sorry." Gohan then looked at Rini. She wasn't saying anything and her gaze was fixed on him. What was she thinking? Whatever it was, she was definitely focused. "Rini?" She heard her name spoken. She blinked, noticing Gohan was the one speaking to her.

"Oh, yeah, hey there." Rini felt her cheeks warming a little. "I gave your homework to your mother…"

"Thanks for bringing it; I'd actually forgotten to ask for all the assignments I'll be missing due to tournament practice." He smiled at Rini.

"Gohan! Can we go back to training now?" the young boy next to Gohan finally spoke up. He sounded a little impatient. Rini and Videl both looked down at this child. He barely came up to Gohan's thigh in height. He wore an orange gi with a blue undershirt and his black hair spiked much differently and more erratically than his brother's.

"You must be the famous Goten that Gohan's told me about." Rini knelt down to look Goten in the eyes and then reached a hand out in greeting. "I'm a classmate of his-"

"Uh-huh. Are you Rini? He's mentioned you a few times. You do have pink hair!" Goten exclaimed as he grasped her hand and shook. "Is it true that lots of guys stare at you at sch—" Goten's question, though nearly finished, was cut off by Gohan roughly nudging his little brother on the back with his leg.

"Goten!" Gohan hissed under his breath as Rini and Videl giggled. Chichi just shook her head.

"Well, ladies, if you don't mind waiting about an hour or two, you're both free to join us for dinner. I'm sure these boys can keep you entertained until then." Chichi smiled and sauntered into the house once again.

"That's my mom… She doesn't even give the chance to say no."

"Don't worry, Gohan. I don't have a problem with it." Rini told him.

"Me neither." Videl nodded and smiled her agreement.

"I guess I can get started on those flying lessons before dinner. What do you say?"

"Sounds great!" Videl was excited. Rini looked at her and then at Gohan. She knew she hadn't asked for lessons, nor was Gohan obliged to include her, but the thought of being able to fly really intrigued her. It would make travel so much easier!

The group walked to a grassy ridge that Gohan seemed to think was perfect for the lessons. Goten and Videl were both noticeably excited. Goten's squirming seemed so restless. Rini had to admit, Goten was pretty adorable.

"So to fly, you basically focus on your energy and put it under yourself to hold you up and… you uh, just fly! It's really simple!" Gohan obviously hadn't planned his lecture very well. Rini understood the concept, and she knew Goten did. But Videl had a look on her face that was demanding more familiar terms.

"What is all this energy nonsense?" Videl asked. "I don't really get it."

"Um, it's like… well…" Gohan couldn't find the words to say; he reached for the back of his neck.

"It's like this!" Goten held up his hand and shot a bright beam of light from his bare hand. He'd aimed at a rock, causing it to turn to a smoking pile of rubble from his attack. Videl was in awe, judging from her hanging jaw and wide eyes.

Gohan tried to go with his little brother's example. "Uh, yeah. It's like _that_."

"He just blew up a rock with his hand…" Videl stammered.

Rini was a little surprised the Goten was as strong as he was considering his age. His childish personality and appearance just made him seem like he wasn't so powerful. Rini realized that this child was probably stronger than she was.

"So if you don't call that energy, Videl, what do you call it?" Gohan asked the girl as she recovered from her initial shock. Her face contorted in thought for a moment.

"Well, it's a trick."

"No, it's not a trick. We aren't trying to fool anyone; this is all real." Gohan told her with a reassuring smile. He glanced at Rini momentarily to catch her nodding her agreement.

"Then I've never seen it before in my life!" Videl shouted.

"Calm down. I'm sure Gohan will be an excellent teacher." Rini told the girl, putting a hand on her shoulder to offer comfort.

"I hope so." Gohan blushed lightly. He still wasn't sure he would do such an _excellent_ job.

"Why aren't you as surprised as I am… unless you've known about this longer than I have?" Videl eyed Rini suspiciously.

"I have known about energies for some time, actually. It's only recently that I've discovered Gohan has a talent for it. Granted, I can't fly either. I use mine in different ways." Rini explained with a grin.

"Hey, Goten, Rini, do you two think you can hang tight for a while? I need to teach Videl how to use her energy." Gohan looked at his brother's suddenly impatient face. Rini nodded and walked over to Goten.

"We can go play, okay?" The princess knelt down and put a hand on Goten's head. Then she stood up.

"Alright. Gohan, we can go play for a bit. But we'll back and you'd better be ready!" Goten bounded up a ridge and leapt into the air. Rini smiled sweetly at Gohan and then waved and darted after Goten.

Gohan watched as the beautiful girl ran off to keep his little brother company. He found himself hoping that Goten liked her. Gohan shook his head lightly and Videl grabbed his attention with her narrowed eyes. _Why was I just wishing for Goten's approval? Gosh, I don't understand my thoughts lately_.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Goten was quietly tiptoeing, using a large rock as cover at each opportunity to avoid being noticed. Rini was also taking cover behind a rock, though she had to crouch a bit more than Goten because of her height. They eyed each other from a distance. Tension rose in the air as a loud croaking noise filled the silence. Both pounced!

Rini, as fast as she was, couldn't beat Goten to the frog. Goten held it triumphantly as he twirled around in victory.

"Dang, Goten. You are one fast kid." Rini wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. Goten knelt to release the frog before looking at Rini. She'd plopped down in the grass, lying on her back now. The girl was getting exhausted trying to keep up with him.

"Sorry if you're getting tired. I'm not used to playing with people that can't keep up. Usually Gohan and Trunks are the only ones I play with. But then I don't win." Goten sat next to her resting form. He smiled at her. "Thanks for keeping me company."

"You don't have to apologize. I'm grateful for the exercise! I guess being humbled by someone your age is very eye-opening for me. I didn't know much of anything about others with special powers before meeting Gohan. And now I'm learning that he has a little brother who's tougher than I am!" Rini laughed gingerly as she caught her breath.

"Rini?" Goten said her name with a questioning fluctuation.

"Yes, Goten?"

"Do you like my brother?"

Rini's cheeks flared a bright red. "What? Why do you ask?"

"Well, he's talked about you a few times. But whenever he talks about you, he asks me not to mention it to Mom because she'd take it the wrong way. And he always says nice things. Like the other day, he told me your hair was really long and shiny. Just out of nowhere; it was strange." The young boy's face crinkled just a tad in confusion.

"Oh?" Rini was still blushing.

"I think he likes you a lot. And he's such a good person… I just wondered if you like him too." Goten looked more toward the sky than Rini, but she knew he was listening intently for an answer.

She smiled and sat up. Her hair was a little messed up and now carried a few blades of grass as it fell against her shoulder blades. "Well, I think very highly of him. I guess you could say I like him. He certainly has a better chance than the rest of the boys in the school." Rini caught Goten's eyes once more.

"Good. Because right now I'm thinking you'd be a fun sister." Goten smiled brightly, showing off his teeth. The boy's innocence caused Rini to smile warmly at him. Her eyes gave off comforting warmth and her smile made Goten's stomach flutter a bit. He didn't know why, but he thought it might possibly be because she was so pretty. He hadn't seen many girls around Gohan's age in his life, but he thought if they were all like Rini then he wouldn't mind meeting more.

It seemed liked very little time had passed when the groups reunited at the Son house for food. They sat at the picnic table in front of the house, Chichi serving food to hers sons and the two ladies.

"I'm so glad that Gohan is making so nice lady friends." Chichi handed Rini and Videl their respective bowls of rice. She turned her attention to Gohan, "You know, it's never too early to settle down."

"Mom…" Gohan sounded embarrassed. Rini had to admit to herself that his shyness was adorably amusing. Goten smiled at them between bites of his meal.

"Chichi, this is delicious! I should give this recipe to our cook." Videl ignored Gohan's obvious discomfort and decided to steer the conversation more toward the food.

"Your cook?" Chichi's neck stretched as she leaned in to make sure she heard right. "Is your family in the restaurant business?"

"Oh, no. I meant the cook we have at our house." Videl answered matter-of-factly.

"You have your own cook? Your family must be loaded! About how many rooms do you have in your house?" Chichi's interest in money was clear.

"Fifty, I think."

"Fifty? That's like a small village!"

Rini then looked at Videl. She had seen the Satan house once or twice walking by. It was a very elegant building. "Videl, your house is that one near the business district with the white columns?"

"Yeah, it is. That's right; you live in those apartments near downtown, don't you? Those are nice ones!" Videl recalled Rini's own residence.

"Yeah, but they're more or less just until my dad settles. He thinks he may be up for a promotion soon, actually. My parents were looking at that house next to yours, actually. That one that's for sale right now." Rini took a bite of rice as she enjoyed her chat with Videl.

"Serenity, what does your father do?" Chichi looked at Rini and Videl like they were from another planet. All this talk of expensive homes had Chichi a bit riled up.

"He's a doctor in the West City Hospital. He works in whichever division needs him. He has a few specializations." Rini tired to remember exactly what it was Darien did. She knew he'd been in a few surgeries earlier that week.

"A doctor!" Chichi looked at Gohan. "You're meeting such lovely young ladies, Gohan! Are you planning to marry one of these girls?"

At his mother's words, the Saiyan spit his food across the table and at his little brother's face in a classic spit-take. Gohan knew his mother wanted money because she'd never had much since Goku hadn't had a job and the Ox King wasn't exactly an occupation.

Goten said nothing for a moment, but he wiped the bits of rice from Gohan's meal from his face using his sleeves. "Does this mean Rini will be my sister?"

"I have no idea what you guys are talking about!" Gohan's face was very warm as he flailed wildly, food in hand still.

Videl looked at Goten, then at Rini. _Why had he asked only about Rini when Chichi asked about both of them?_ This would be on her mind for a while, until she knew.

"Thank you for the food, Chichi." Rini said as she gently and elegantly placed her chopsticks on the edge of her emptied bowl. She smiled with an obvious shyness to her eyes.

The group returned to the grassy ridge. The grass folded to the wind that had picked up since they'd left for their meal. Rini's hair moved with the wind, occasionally hitting her legs or her arms. She didn't notice it, at least not as much as Gohan. He found that he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"Gohan! Are you going to teach us how to fly now?" Goten's voice broke the lock Gohan's eyes had on Rini.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I sure am, sport!" Gohan smiled at his brother and then looked at the impatience on both Videl and Goten's faces. Then he looked at Rini's face. Her eyes seemed to be focusing on something else completely; almost dazed-looking. _Is she okay? … I wonder what's on her mind._

"Rini? You okay?" Gohan got her attention. Rini heard her name and snapped her focus to Gohan.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking is all. I've never seen a flying lesson before. It's just that… it's interesting." She tried to hide the awkwardness she felt. She knew that being here was almost pointless unless she would be learning to fly as well.

"Oh, do you want to learn to? You're welcome to join in on the lesson if you want." Gohan's nervous tick took action again. Rini smiled at him and nodded.

"I'd like that very much." She took a few steps forward to be even with Goten and Videl in their lineup.

"Alright then," Gohan cleared his throat and spoke to the group, "since you all have control over your energy now, I can teach you to fly. What you do is focus your energy under you to lift you up into the air; it's really very simple!"

Rini understood what he meant and began to focus; however, her focus was limited. Goten was hopping up and down over and over as if he expected to be caught and suspended by some sort of invisible entity. Videl stood still looking as if she was focusing—very intensely. Rini felt that both were somehow doing it all wrong. Goten was obviously wrong just in method alone. Videl seemed too tense. Flying seemed liked one of those things that should be fluid and calm. Being too tense wasn't the right practice either.

Gohan went to Goten's side and told him that hopping and flying were completely different, reminding his younger brother that he should use his energy— his ki, that is. Not the other type of energy. Goten seemed to understand and began to focus.

Both Rini and Videl watched in awe as Goten suddenly started floating. He was wobbly, but he was off the ground. The young boy rose about ten feet into the sky and then started going forward just as wobbly as before.

"Not so high, Goten."

"Oh, Gohan, don't worry so much." Goten chose to ignore the older brother's words. "Look, I'm a little birdie!" The boy's laughter filled the air as he kept floating forward slowly and wobbly.

"That's great Goten!" Gohan watched Goten proudly. But suddenly, Goten plummeted to the ground and grunted in pain as he made impact. "Ah! Goten!" Gohan hurried to his brother's side.

Rini looked on with little concern. She knew Goten would bounce back quickly. She then closed her eyes and focused a little more on her energy. She felt the flow go down through her legs then a light sensation like feathers brushing against the soles of feet. She opened her eyes to see that she was floating now.

"Oh my—wow! I'm off the ground!" Rini declared with a reasonable amount of surprise in her tone.

Gohan looked up after helping his brother to his feet. Rini was floating!

"Whoa! You too? Good job, Rini!" Gohan cheered her on. She tried floating forward a bit. It felt a little awkward, kind of like she was learning to walk all over again. Her balance felt wobbly and the light breeze did not help her focus. It was as if the wind could tear her from the sky and would do so just to say that it could. Before she was fully aware of it, Rini was down. She'd fallen from the sky with a brief yelp escaping her.

"Ow…" She rubbed her head as she brought her hands under her to lift herself up. She felt something firm. She looked down to see that she'd landed on Gohan and her hands were on his chest. Her face turned pink immediately and she jumped up with a backwards motion. "Sorry, Gohan! You're not hurt, are you?"

"Not at all…" Gohan stood up. He was reminded just how light and soft her body was in that brief moment.

"Gohan! Have you forgotten about me?" Videl shouted from a good ten yards away. She'd been watching the others this whole time and understandably felt a little left out.

After Gohan went over to Videl to watch her progress, Rini sat on the ground. She brought her knees to her chest loosely and thought. _He's… so built! Wow. I haven't actually realized it until now. _Her face was lightly pink as she stared at her hands.

"Rini." Goten crawled to her side. He looked up at her curiously as he rotated around and plopped down on his bottom. "You flew too! Wasn't it the coolest thing ever?" He grinned.

"It was pretty cool." Rini smiled back at the young boy.

They paused and exchanged glances before giggling together. Goten then jumped up to his feet and focused on flying once again. He seemed determined. Rini stood up herself and checked the sun position. It was getting close to sunset.

Videl had started floating and then brought herself carefully back to the ground, something both Goten and Rini had failed to do. She was much happier with herself after that. The gift of flight must be truly liberating to the girl, Rini thought.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then." Videl told Gohan as Rini approached the two.

"What? But I already taught you how to fly; all you really need now is some practice." Gohan told her. He felt that his end of the deal was holding up well.

"Yeah, but I want to learn more about this flying and energy business." Videl told him, and then looked to Rini. "You want a ride home?"

"Oh, um, thank you, I'd like—" Rini started. Goten interrupted her.

"Hey, who's that?" The boy pointed to a figure on a nearby ridge.

Rini followed his finger and saw a girl with blue hair standing next to a girl with red hair. Both had the hair up in somewhat complex ways. The blue-haired girl was wearing jeans and a blue blouse with white lace around the bottom edges of the sleeves. The red-haired girl had on jeans and a sleeveless red crop top over a black long-sleeved shirt.

"PallaPalla and VesuVesu… What are they doing here?" Rini muttered.

"You know them?" Gohan looked at Rini to make sure.

"They're some friends of mine from my hometown… Excuse me for a moment." Rini wasn't sure if those two suddenly appearing was good or bad. She just knew that they were likely to cause a little mischief. Before leaving the group, Rini turned to Videl. "Thanks for the offer, but they might take a while to, er… talk to. If you want, you can head out without me. I'll find my own way home even if I have to make Gohan carry me." She winked at Videl. The Satan girl laughed and nodded.

"Rini! There you are!" The two girls who had just appeared dashed to Rini and they met half way.

"VesuVesu, PallaPalla! What are you girls doing here?" Rini asked them after a group hug.

"We heard of some of your endeavors here. And we _are_ you guardians, after all." VesuVesu put her hands on her hips. Both she and PallaPalla were perfect hourglass figures, voluptuous to a fault. They often still performed physical feats when they weren't doing homework. They could easily stop school and join the circus again, but they'd been told that an education would be useful as guardians to the princess.

"And _our_ finals are over. JunJun and CereCere will be in town in two days. We'll be staying with Setsuna during our visit." PallaPalla sounded as if she was repeating instructions that she'd been given.

"That's great! I missed you girls!" Rini smiled. She wasn't a lone scout for just a while longer. She'd really missed her friends, more than she would care to admit. A visit was welcomed with open arms at this point.

**A/N: This was finished a lot sooner than I thought it would be! I hope you guys enjoyed it! (I didn't have any new assignments today.) The next chapter will have plenty of giggles here and there, I'm sure. :) Please keep up the reading and reviews; I thrive off them! **


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Gohan and Goten walked over to the girls once Videl had said her farewells and flown off in her plane. Rini looked at the guys as they came closer. VesuVesu and PallaPalla gave them rapt attention as they both examined Gohan with narrowed eyes, very similarly to the way that Hotaru had looked at him.

"Hey, Videl just left. So, uh, who are your friends?" Gohan was smiling at the princess.

"So… _you're_ the famous Gohan?" VesuVesu stepped up to Gohan and sized him up. He was suddenly nervous again. This wasn't like Hotaru; she'd kept a fair distance from him up to a point. VesuVesu actually started grabbing his arms and feeling his muscles while PallaPalla was poking at his stomach. Various comments like "Wow, he's built!" and "I just almost jammed my finger on his stomach!" were made in regards to their examination.

"Um… could you girls… _please_ stop that? It's a bit weird and…" Right then Gohan was interrupted by both girls hopping onto him to catch him in a group hug. Gohan reflexively caught both girls even though he didn't want them to hug on him; he also didn't want to be mean and drop them.

"Oh, he's strong and has good reflexes!" PallaPalla giggled.

"You know what that means, Rini!" VesuVesu looked to the princess with a sly smile while Gohan still supported their weight with little effort. "He's gotta be great for—"

"Pink Sugar Heart Attack!" Rini didn't even transform to use her wand. She whisked it out and pelted her friends with little pink hearts made of light. Each heart felt like a flick to the girls. Rini's red face looked irritated and embarrassed.

Goten stood off to the side as this all transpired. He had no idea what was going on, just that Rini's friends were acting weird and Gohan was uncomfortable.

"Calm down, Rini! We're just goofing off!" Both amazons let go of Gohan and rolled to the ground. Gohan stood still with his face frozen in awkward embarrassment.

"Rini… who are your friends?" Gohan asked once again for lack of anything better to say.

After Rini calmed down and Gohan regained his composure, the other scouts decided it was right to formally introduce themselves. VesuVesu bowed slightly to Gohan and PallaPalla mimicked her friend.

"I'm VesuVesu."

"And _I'm_ PallaPalla!"

Together, the girls finished. "We're appointed guardians to Serenity."

"Appointed guardians?" Gohan directed his question towards Rini.

Rini felt like smacking her own face in frustration. The girls were clearly told that Gohan knew more than he did. "He doesn't know that part."

"Oh." VesuVesu and PallaPalla realized their folly.

"Well, you may as well tell him now. He already knows about the scout thing, right? So just tell him the rest. There's no shame in your title." VesuVesu shrugged.

"It's not that simple!" Rini quipped.

Gohan intervened, "Rini, you don't have to tell me anything that you don't want to. You know that." He smiled. He was such a good guy. His curiosity was overly-apparent, however.

"It's alright, Gohan, I guess I can tell you. You'll just think I'm crazy is all." Rini sighed before eyeing her guardians menacingly. She cleared her throat and breathed slowly. "I'm their princess. To be more specific, I'm the princess of the Moon."

"You're a princess?" Gohan asked.

"Whoa! Does that mean you have a castle and guards and big feasts?" Goten piped up excitedly. He had been very quiet until he heard the word princess.

"Well, not exactly. There are some plans set aside to restore the old palace, but that's a way off… Wait, you aren't weirded out that I'm an alien? You're not even questioning it?" Rini was shocked. VesuVesu and PallaPalla exchanged a quick high-five.

"I know a fair share of nonhumans." Gohan trailed off. "I'm not even completely human myself, I guess."

"What? Then what are you?"

"My brother and I are both half-blooded Saiyans. Our father was born on a different planet and sent here as a baby. He was raised by a human though." Gohan recalled what he'd been told by Goku and Chichi.

"Saiyans?" PallaPalla asked what was on Rini's mind. Rini was standing still, absorbing the new information. The princess and this boy weren't so different.

"Saiyans are a race of warriors… Well, they were a race of warriors. My dad and a friend of ours are the last full-blooded Saiyans as far as I know." Gohan explained. When mention of his father came up, his tone weakened briefly.

"So, you have warrior instinct?" PallaPalla asked.

"Oh, Rini, this one's going to be a keeper!" VesuVesu nudged the pink-haired scout slyly.

"VesuVesu… you aren't being very nice." Rini mumbled forlornly toward her friend.

"I'm being a saint." VesuVesu remarked sarcastically and then winked.

Gohan was quiet for a bit as he observed the girls interacting. They were certainly friends. They just liked to tease Rini. But he could see that they did it out of love for their princess. He didn't find it too strange now that he considered what he knew of the girl. The explanation of her roots made more sense when you added alien into the equation.

"Rini, if you want to come back tomorrow to continue flying lessons with us, you're welcome to." Gohan smiled at Rini as he stepped forward. Warmth emanated from his smile. Rini could feel the rest of the world disappearing as the invisible warmth embraced her.

"Really? That would be great!" She exclaimed. Goten nodded and chuckled.

"And that means Gohan will get to see you again tomorrow!" He loved to tease his brother as much as VesuVesu and PallaPalla loved to tease Rini. Gohan bumped his little brother with his leg lightly as a way of telling him to cut it out.

"Kid, I like you. What's your name?" VesuVesu knelt down and held a hand out to Goten. The boy took it and they shook hands.

"I'm Goten, Gohan's younger brother."

"He's so cute!" PallaPalla squealed.

While the two laughed and fawned over Goten, Gohan focused on Rini. The girl looked up at him, directly into his eyes. He was a little nervous at the stare her red eyes gave him, but he also felt like he might like it.

"Gohan. I'll see you tomorrow then." Rini told him.

"Yeah, good. Tomorrow then." He nodded.

Rini wasn't sure why she did it, but the impulse took over and she launched an eager hug onto Gohan. He caught her reflexively with a heavy blush on his cheeks. She held onto his warmth for a whopping six seconds. His arms were strong and warm. She felt secure and melted as she took in his scent. She released him at last and then backed a few steps.

"Well then… goodnight." She smiled and then gathered the attention of her scouts. She gave Goten a quick hug and then the three girls held hands in a circle (or triangle… depending on how you look at it).

"Sailor Teleport!" the trio shouted. They were engulfed by a bright light.

"G-goodnight." Gohan managed a stammer before they vanished.

"Bye, Rini! See you tomorrow!" Goten waved as the light dissolved away in to the air. He looked up at his brother with a grin. "You got a big hug from her, Gohan!"

"Yeah. I did." Gohan was still a tad flabbergasted.

"Was it nice?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it was." Gohan answered the question as he stared at where the girls had been standing before disappearing. Goten chuckled at his brother.

_Gohan let Rini hug him. He must really like her!_

"Goten."

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell mom about that…"

"Aw, alright." Goten sounded disappointed. From his tone, Gohan could tell that the boy had been planning to tell Chichi. "Gohan?"

"Yeah, sport?" Gohan asked.

"If you and Rini get married someday, that will make you a king, won't it?"

"… I'm not sure…" Gohan didn't know. Since the royal family to which Rini belonged was likely a secret from the populace of the Earth, he doubted any sudden rise to kingship would occur. Just then, the weight of Goten's question hit him. "And we aren't planning on getting married any time soon! Sheesh!"

Rini, VesuVesu and PallaPalla appeared in the princess's living room.

"Whoa, good aim." PallaPalla commented. Their Sailor Teleport was successful and spot-on. This was something they didn't always get right so this success was note-worthy.

"Hey, scouts." Serena poked her head around the doorway from the kitchen. "It's nice to see you girls here. Is that where you were, Rini? I wish you'd tell me where you are when you're planning on being home this late." The queen's concern for her daughter was apparent in her tone.

"Sorry, mom."

"Oh, she wasn't with us the whole time, just the last twenty minutes about." PallaPalla piped up.

"Oh?" Serena looked at Rini for an explanation.

"Well, uh, you see, Gohan was absent from school today and I volunteered to take his homework to him. And I kind of just dawdled at his house. Met his mom, too. She seemed nice." Rini avoided eye contact with her mother as her cheeks warmed.

"I see." A sly grin covered Serena's face. "So you went to hang out with a boy and didn't want to tell me. If it was anyone but that darling boy I might have a problem with it." The woman giggled as she teased her daughter.

"Mom…" Rini muttered. VesuVesu and PallaPalla both joined the queen in a chorus of laughter.

Darien walked into the room upon hearing multiple voices. "Rini! There you are!" Rini's expression only darkened at her father walking in because she knew what was coming. "I've told you to call when you're out after school so that we know where you are." His voice wasn't angry or demanding, only firm. His blue eyes looked as if they were prying into Rini's soul.

"Oh, calm down, honey. She was at Gohan's house." Serena giggled.

"At Gohan's house… I see… I guess they do grow up fast…" Darien mumbled to himself after looking like he'd been stabbed in the heart with a small needle. He trudged over to the couch and put a hand to his forehead as in mimic of a headache.

"Dad, please…" Rini watched her father act as if he was sinking into a depressive state on the sofa.

"Rini. Do you like this Gohan?" Darien asked out nowhere. His eyes looked desperate.

"Um, what?" She was caught off guard by the suddenness of the question.

After a silent moment of looking at his daughter's eyes, Darien regained his composure and sighed. "I see. Well then, next time I see him I'll be sure to give him my blessings…" He said this quietly, yet it was just loud enough for the ladies to hear.

Serena giggled at her husband and then went to comfort him on the adjacent cushion. VesuVesu and PallaPalla both grinned and then looked at the clock.

"Well, we're going to head to Setsuna's house. She said if we aren't back for dinner at seven then she'd lock us out for the night. Come by tomorrow after your flying lessons, 'kay?" VesuVesu winked at her princess. PallaPalla nodded as if to say that she, too, thought Rini should visit. The two amazons left the apartment, remembering to close the front door behind them.

"Flying lessons?" Serena asked her daughter.

"Oh, um yeah. You see, Gohan has powers and they allow him to fly. And he's teaching his little brother and another girl from class how to fly… I got caught up in it when I was delivering homework so he's invited me back tomorrow to practice." Rini knew it sounded a little farfetched, but it certainly wasn't the strangest thing her parents had heard.

"Wow, flight! I might just have to ask you to teach me once you're done!" Serena imagined that flying was a wonderful feeling. Like what a bird released from a cage would feel. A sort of ultimate liberation.

"Wanna see me float? That's about as much as I've done." Rini smiled as she began to direct her energy under herself. She started to float a little less wobbly than she had earlier that day.

Darien and Serena looked at their daughter as she floated. This wasn't so abnormal, but at the same time it was. They had never seen Rini fly under her own power before unless some form of wings had been involved. This was just pure manipulation of her energy.

"Impressive. And you learned this from Gohan?" Darien smiled at his daughter.

"Uh huh."

"I can see that he's going to be a keeper for quite a while." His voice was less concerned than he had been just minutes ago. He was convinced that Gohan was a wonderful young man, even if he was unconsciously stealing away the heart of this king's little girl.

Rini sighed. Her father was thoroughly convinced that she was going to end up with Gohan. And while she silently hoped that it would come to be, she went to her father's side.

"Don't worry so much, Daddy. Even if I do end up finding that one person soon, you'll still be the one I loved first." She hugged Darien tightly. Her mother looked on and smiled at the heartwarming scene.

"I know." Darien's voice sounded very relieved. "And I'll make sure he knows that every day of his life." He chuckled. Serena and Rini both laughed with him.

A short while after that, Rini headed to bed. She snuggled under her covers in her pink pajama pants and white camisole. Diana hopped nimbly onto the princess's bed as well and curled up next to her.

The next morning, Gohan awoke to Goten jumping on his bed. "Gohan! Wake up!"

Gohan sat up with such speed that Goten couldn't avoid him. The brothers smashed their heads together with great force. Goten couldn't maintain his balance and fell off the bed and on to the floor. Gohan's eyes started to tear a little bit because of the sharp pain on his forehead.

"Augh! Goten!" He put his hand over his newly forming goose egg of a bump. Gohan made his way across the room to the mirror and examined his forehead. "Kiddo, you should be more careful. Let me take a look at your head." He beckoned his brother over to where he stood.

Goten complied with his brother's words and walked over to let Gohan take a look. After about a minute of looking, Gohan concluded that they would both get bruises but it wasn't serious. The brothers went downstairs for breakfast. Their mother must've had a sixth sense for knowing when they would be awake and hungry because she was already cooking in the kitchen.

"Good morning, boys!" Chichi sang to them. She seemed to be in an especially good mood. She briskly brought many plates of bacon, eggs and toast to the table. "I feel that when Rini and Videl come over today, I should warn them about your appetite, Gohan." Chichi pondered aloud as she sat down.

"Mom… it's too early in the morning for this." Gohan muttered between bites of toast. Goten Chuckled before promptly shoving some bacon onto his palette.

"It's never too early to think about your future! I just think some fair warning is in order for the girls! Especially if you do end up marrying one of them!" The boys' mother gestured sternly while holding her fork. She then started eating, as if to say that she had won. Gohan excused the topic and nodded as he continued his meal.

As Chichi carried a stack of dirty dishes to the sink, there was a rapt knocking on the door of the Son house. The family exchanged glances and Gohan decided he would be the one to answer. He opened the door to see Rini there, looking a little nervous.

"Ah, hi, Gohan. Sorry if it's too early, I wasn't sure when to come over and I thought ten would be okay… It's not too early, is it? If it is, I can come back later…" She was oddly fidgety. Gohan looked at her mannerisms. She seemed very unsure of herself which wasn't normal for her.

"You made an effort to be here, right? Don't worry about it. You are a little early though, so come on in. We just finished a late breakfast." He gestured her inside and smiled. She brightened up a bit at that and walked in the door.

"Rini! You're here!" Goten declared excitedly. He launched into a literal flying hug. He laughed happily until he released the girl and landed lightly on the floor.

"Nice to see you too, Goten." Rini smiled at the boy and ruffled his hair a bit. She noticed Chichi poking her head around the doorway to the kitchen. "Good morning Chichi, it's good to see you again. I hope I'm not inconveniencing you by being here early." Rini bowed her head respectfully toward the woman.

"Not at all, I'm happy you came by. You're so polite." Chichi smiled in return to Rini's bowing.

"Thank you, Chichi." _In truth, I wanted to be here before Videl so I could spend more time with Gohan._ Rini thought to herself. She wondered if Chichi, as a woman, could read her easily. The princess turned to Gohan. "Oh, and Videl said she'd get our homework because she wasn't willing to be absent from school today. Something about a test in one of her classes. When she comes by later she can get it to us." Rini remembered to mention this briefly.

"Sounds good." Gohan nodded and then looked at his mother. Chichi was making an effort to sneak out of the room with Goten. Clearly, she thought the two would do well with alone time.

Rini noticed Chichi and Goten walking out as well and smiled toward Gohan. "My, aren't they considerate?" The joking tone was intentionally obvious. Gohan laughed a little bit at her remark.

The two stood still in silence for a moment. They were alone now. Just the two of them. And neither knew what to say or do to break the ice—until Gohan decided to give Rini a quick tour of the house. He led her from the kitchen to the living room, to upstairs and each bedroom. He came to his and Goten's room, opening the door gently.

**A/N: I know it's a horrible place to end the chapter! I apologize! I cut it off here because if I didn't, the next good cut would've been probably another five pages ... So, merry late holidays! I would normally say Christmas but that wouldn't be PC and this is the internet… So… MERRY WHATEVER DOESN'T OFFEND YOU! I also wanted a chance to use that! I hope everyone out there is having a great December and got lots of presents and joy from your respective holidays. **


	9. Chapter 8

Rini peered into the bedroom. It was pretty plain. Also very clean for a room belonging to a teen boy and his younger brother. She figured Chichi must have a strict cleaning regimen. There were two decently-sized beds for the boys. There were some chairs and a desk for the boys to do homework at with neatly organized stacks of paper. Near a wall was a large full-bodied mirror that Rini suspected was only that size so that both boys could gussy up at the same time and be done quickly.

"Gohan, I'm sorry, but your room is disappointingly plain." Rini told him as she looked around.

"Well, if Goten had his way, the walls would be bright green and the ceiling would be red."

"That is pretty horrible. Maybe it's better this way." Rini turned her attention from Gohan to give the room a second glance over. "Yeah, this does suit you in a way. But at the same time… you're so unique that I expected something out of the ordinary in here."

"Sorry to disappoint. I'm actually a very regular person. I just fly and shoot beams of light from my hands is all." Gohan scratched the back of his neck.

Rini noticed his tick and smiled. She walked closer to him and peered up at him from an angle. "So, I've been meaning to ask you… what's with all the weird poses you do as Saiyaman? They aren't exactly the most intimidating thing to see a superhero do."

Blushing at her sudden inquiry, Gohan replied, "I don't know, I just did it the first time I put on the costume and it kind of stuck…"

"I think being the Golden Fighter would've been a little more intimidating though. You look more serious in the pictures." Rini quickly pulled out her cell phone and put it up in front of the boy's face. Gohan looked at a picture of himself from the day that he had gone super Saiyan in town.

"Where did that picture come from?"

"Someone near the scene had their cell phone out and took pictures. And some took video. I found a lot of shots on the internet the other day. Then I looked at the face and realized it was you. So what's the golden hair about?"

Gohan plopped down on his bed, Rini soon sitting at his side, and he sighed. "The Saiyan blood I mentioned to you the other day… well, the golden hair is something that Saiyans can get once they reach a certain level of strength. It's called 'super Saiyan.' So far, there are two levels of super Saiyan. I was first that I know of to reach level two."

"So… you're _stronger_ when you go blond?"

"I guess so, as strange as that sounds."

Rini giggled. "Hahaha, you're so weird." She said this with a big grin as she laid back and Gohan could tell she meant it in an endearing sense. He laughed too. Then he rolled to his side to face her. She was staring at his ceiling with a smile plastered on her face. Her red eyes were glistening as they caught and reflected light from the light on the ceiling. Her long locks were coiling every which way underneath her head and the area around her head. He wondered how long she'd been growing it out to get to that insane length. It was really pretty and well-kept too.

Rini felt eyes watching her and turned to her side as well to look at Gohan. "What's up?" She asked him as if she thought something might be wrong.

"Oh, um, nothing. Just… your hair is really long. How much time did it take you to grow it out?" He figured he may as well ask.

"I guess… about four years? It was really long when I was younger, too, but when I turned thirteen, I decided to cut some of it. I think about 20 inches… then I went with that for a little while and it's grown about twice the length I cut."

"It must grow really fast, then. Yikes." Gohan commented.

"It does. I think it has to do with the Moon heritage. My mom's hair grows really fast, too." Rini recalled her mother mentioning that when she transformed into her Moon royalty appearance, her hair started growing faster. "Anyway…" Rini searched her mind for another topic. "Random question, bear with me, have you ever had a girlfriend, Gohan?"

Gohan's face was completely red in moments once her question sank in. His eyes widened a bit and he looked at her as if she's spoken of something taboo. "Um, well, not exactly. Y-you see, I've always busied myself with schoolwork and training with my dad!"

"I see." Rini grinned. "Where is your dad; I haven't met him yet." She giggled before changing the subject. He seemed relieved on the change.

"Well, he died in the fight against Cell-"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Rini apologized right away like most people do when dead relatives are brought up.

"No, it's okay. He's actually been allowed to come back for the day of the tournament because of what he accomplished when he was alive. You can meet him then, if you'd like." Gohan was now smiling warmly, though it seemed more inwardly warm.

"I'd love to. I can tell from how you're acting that he's a good man." Rini sat up and stretched her arms back behind her. Gohan sat up seconds after and watched her. "And just so we're square, I've never had an actual boyfriend either. Just a few crushes and kisses here and there." She winked.

"Okay." Gohan didn't know what else to say. He was pretty sure she expected him to say or do something at that moment because there was a silent pause. He just was clueless as to what that was…

At the moment, Rini giggled lightly and then put her head against Gohan's shoulder. His face was burning, she could tell. Hers was a little warm too, but she liked the warmth in a way. She could feel the rush stirred up by being near him. She wondered if it was similar to bliss or love.

Gohan wasn't sure what came over him, but he needed to do something. He lifted the arm nearest to her and put it around her shoulders, causing her to be brought into his chest. Then he let his other arm wrap around her waist and cling snugly on her body. She seemed so small like this. She seemed small in a way that made her more delicate. Gohan knew she was pretty far from delicate though. His instinct was in disagreement with his logic as he held her.

Rini, on the other hand, was overheating in Gohan's chest. Not only because her face was much hotter than before but also because she was having trouble breathing due to her shock and disbelief in the scene that was unfolding.

"Rini…" Gohan managed despite his lack of ability in articulation at the moment. "I, uh… I think…"

"Gohan! What's going on here?" Chichi's voice shouted in shock from the doorway. The two hadn't shut the door behind them so Gohan's mother had poked her head in to see them.

A few things happened in the moments that followed. Chichi covered her mouth as if she felt bad for interrupting her son's moment. Gohan's arms flew off from Rini and were frozen above his head as if to say 'I did nothing!' Rini covered her cheeks to try and hide the redness from anyone looking and turned the opposite direction.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Please ignore my intrusion." Chichi then turned away and paused. "Just make sure to get married before having any children." Then the woman walked away briskly. Goten was approaching as his mother rushed away down the hall. He'd heard his mother shouting and come to investigate.

Goten took a look at the frozen teens and then tilted his head. "What's wrong with you guys?"

"Absolutely nothing!" Gohan assured his brother as he remained motionless.

Later on, once the awkwardness was cast aside and Chichi had called Bulma, Gohan, Rini and Goten had left the house to resume the flying lessons from the day before.

"So, I know Goten's been practicing… Have you worked on your flying since yesterday, Rini?" He kept his voice level with much effort but couldn't seem to keep his cheeks from turning the lightest tint of pink.

"I did a little. I didn't want to damage anything in the apartment so I limited myself to just floating up and down and then staying at different levels for extended amounts of time."

"That's good to practice. So, um, I guess you guys should just work on it and I'll watch and give feedback then." Gohan nodded as if he considered what he said.

Rini and Goten then started hovering and moving around through the air at varied paces. Goten was certainly getting the hang of it. Rini felt like he was a natural. He flew really well; he just had to pay attention to what he was doing. He was doing crazy eights in the air in no time. The young princess, on the other hand, was having difficulty focusing on the moving around part. She could get about eight feet forward before she got wobbly and dropped. Gohan would go to where she landed and make sure she wasn't hurt and then she would try again. This pattern went on for about twenty minutes before Rini sat down for a break.

"You okay, Rini? You've been struggling a little bit." Gohan had been watching her well.

"I just can't seem to focus well today…" Rini was blushing. "Any tips?"

"Well… what do you usually focus on?"

"Staying afloat."

"I guess that makes sense… but do you remember how it felt when you first rose into the air yesterday?"

"Yes. I thought it was very exhilarating. I was energized, happy!" Rini nodded as she recalled.

"There! Then just focus on what you felt yesterday. That should help." Gohan gestured, holding his finger up to make his point. "Think _happy_ thoughts."

"Happy thoughts?" Rini asked. She blushed a little. She'd been happy in Gohan's room. _Very_ happy. But also embarrassed. She closed her eyes and sat cross-legged. _So I just need to focus on the feelings, not the actual event. Okay… so warmth, happiness… Gohan…_ She stood up and repeated the words in her mind.

Gohan watched as she began to float again. She rose a little higher than before and then opened her eyes. He watched as she willed herself forward. Whatever she was thinking seemed to be working. Gohan leapt into the air and floated about fifteen feet in front of her.

"Alright, good. Now can you make it over here?"

Rini looked at him and smiled to herself. He just made this practice much easier. She increased her speed and bulleted to him. "Too easy, Gohan!" She stopped herself abruptly with little effort right in front of him.

Gohan nodded, "Good to hear!"

Goten floated upside down a ways away from the two as he watched them. _They sure seem chummy. Good. I hope Gohan asks her out soon._ The boy smiled at his thoughts and then zoomed toward Rini and his brother.

"Hey Gohan, I'm going to go fly around the cliffs a little bit. I'll be really careful, promise!" And as fast as he'd appeared, Goten flew off immediately.

Gohan and Rini watched Goten fly off, leaving them alone. "Alright then… Let's try again. This time I'll be further away." Gohan started flying a good distance away from where Rini floated. He stopped and Rini observed the distance. She knew she could do it if Gohan was waiting at the end.

The heroes continued their training in this fashion for nearly an hour. Soon Rini had mastered forward and backward, up and down, diagonals and every which direction that Gohan could think to throw at her. They both decided it was break time and went to a lake nearby.

Rini cupped some water in her hands and then splashed it on her face. She used her soft pink three-quarter sleeves to wipe her face afterwards and then she plopped onto her back in the grass with a big sigh.

Gohan watched her and then walked to her side. He also plopped down. "I'm surprised by the progress you made. Most people take longer to get the hang of flying."

"I don't know. Once you started helping me it just clicked. I'm getting so used to the feel of flying now." Rini smiled at him, clearly overjoyed.

"Well, I'm glad I could help." Gohan was happy to see her joy.

Rini sat up and looked at the boy next to her. "Gohan, thank you." She made sure to look directly into his eyes as she said it. Her parents had always told her that thankfulness was most apparent in the eyes. He nodded his head before turning to look in the sky at something. Rini followed his gaze and saw Videl's plane approaching. They both stood up and exchanged glances.

"You go ahead and greet her. I'll go find Goten. He said near the cliffs, right?" Rini gestured toward some cliffs about a mile in the direction opposite of the flying lessons area.

"Yeah, he did. Are you sure you want to go get him? There are… interesting animals that way. Could be a bit dangerous if you're caught off-guard." Gohan warned her. He knew that dinosaurs weren't an everyday thing for the princess since she lived in the city, so he was concerned.

"Don't worry; I think I'll be fine." Rini smiled, happy for his concern. She winked and then took to the air. Gohan watched her as she flew out of sight and then shifted his attention and started running the other direction to greet Videl.

Rini landed at the top of one the taller cliffs and took a survey of the area. No sign of Goten right away. _Maybe he's at the bottom somewhere._ Rini looked down. She felt she shouldn't have done that because she was realizing how high up she actually was. It took a moment for her to remember that she could fly so even if she fell, she would be alright.

She took a deep breath in and out to clear her mind before stepping over the edge of the cliff. She then descended as lightly as a feather to the ground. Once she landed, Goten rushed up to her.

"Hey, Rini! Did you come to find me? Where's Gohan?"

"He went to make sure he was the one to greet Videl today. I offered to come find you and bring you back to the grassy area we were in earlier, if you're ready." She knelt down to be closer to the boy's eye level.

"I guess… but hey, first say hi to Choubi!" Goten took hold of Rini's hand and led her into a clearing past some bushes. "He still can't fly yet, so his parents want him to play in well-covered places like in the trees over here!"

Rini saw the dinosaur that Gohan had rescued from the circus sitting in the clearing with a stick in his mouth. He was gnawing on it very intently like he had a mission to do. She giggled.

"I see. I'm glad to know that he's okay."

"Gohan told me that you helped him—well, _Mini Moon_ helped him. But that is you, right?"

Rini looked at Goten. She didn't recall mentioning it to Goten that she was a sailor-suited hero. She didn't think Gohan would tell even his little brother, but even if he did, she supposed she wouldn't mind since it was Goten.

"Yeah. That's me. Choubi's a good friend of yours, huh?"

"He is. Not many people live out here, let alone people with kids my age. Choubi and lots of the other animals around here play with me when I come outside. Though I think the saber tooth lion doesn't like me very much after I got his fur wet…" Goten recalled an incident with the saber tooth bashfully.

Rini excused the saber tooth issue with a lighthearted laugh and then looked at Goten. "So how about we head to the others now, 'kay?" Goten nodded and they both jumped into the air. Rini and Goten flew fast toward the fields of grass where Gohan and Videl would be waiting.

**A/N: I know not much actually happened in that chapter… but there was progress in the relationship between the main characters. I might get one more chapter out before the end of my break (another week and a half). MIGHT. I'm pretty excited for all the reviews I've gotten already for the chapter I posted yesterday (5 in one day is enough to make me happy!). Anyway, at this point, I'm about ready to take it to the actual tournament. I don't plan on detailing the junior division in my story. Rini's appearance in Gohan's life did not change the fact that Trunks beat Goten. It's okay though, Rini will still give that boy a hug. … Anywho, please keep reading and providing feedback/comments! **


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The days went by quickly. Gohan started training more with Goten. Videl mastered flight and got a haircut at Gohan's nervous suggestion. Videl had decided that she needed to train on her own once the flying was done and she did just that. Rini went to school every other day and also started training drills with the Asteroid scouts in preparation for the tournament.

After a long day of practicing fisticuffs, because it was unlikely that the tournament would allow the use of crystal-powered wands, Rini walked into her apartment with Jun Jun and Vesu Vesu. All three girls were sweating and wearing tank tops and spandex shorts. All three plopped down on the first couch they came to and breathed heavily.

"You girls are certainly working hard for that tournament tomorrow." Darien noted from his seat at the edge of the room. He was reading a newspaper after a long day at work. He had arranged to get the next day off so that he could watch the tournament.

"Yeah! And Rini's the only one of us entering. This is all for her, really." Jun Jun replied abruptly to the king's words.

"We could all use the exercise anyway." Vesu Vesu added onto Jun Jun.

"Thanks, girls." Rini rolled off of the couch and started walking to the kitchen.

Rini, being a good hostess, grabbed three glasses from a cupboard in the kitchen and poured some pink lemonade from a pitcher in the fridge into the glasses and added some ice cubes to each one.

"Rini, there you are. Goodness, you girls are pushing yourselves hard." Serena popped in the doorway behind her daughter. Rini almost jumped at the sudden break in silence.

"Well, I'm guessing the tournament officials aren't going to allow me to use my moon powers. I'm not supposed to use weapons unless they are physically attached to part of my body. So I've been brushing up on old moves that Haruka and Lita taught me before we moved." Rini told her mother as she placed the glasses on a small silver tray. She lifted the tray delicately and turned to walk into the living room.

Vesu Vesu and Jun Jun were relieved upon the re-entry of their princess—with lemonade. Each of the girls took a glass and said thanks before quietly sipping away. Rini also drank her glass quite heartily.

Serena walked in behind her daughter and smiled at the scene. So much had happened since they moved, it seemed. Not to her, but to her daughter. This move turned out to be a good thing after all. Rini met a nice young man and some friends at school. It was a tad unnerving that she had received an urgent call from Rei earlier that day.

"_I feel that something horrible is going to happen to the planet very soon. I'm worried for Rini's sake. She gets involved deeply in this. I saw her with some boy and a large monster. A lot of people are going to die…"_ The words of her dear friend echoed in Serena's mind. Rei's keen sense of prediction was usually accurate and well-timed. The queen worried for her daughter's sake too, just hoping that the tournament would go well. She hoped that Rei would be wrong for once.

The young scouts chattered a bit as the queen smiled once more and left the room. Darien also left the room, having been aware of the urgent call from their longtime friend. He knew it bothered her and it bother him as well. Both would do what they could to keep their princess safe.

As the digital clock read '8:30' in red letters, Rini heard her cell phone ring. She got up and the caller ID. "Unknown" was on where the name would normally be, but there was a number. She wasn't sure, but she thought she recognized it.

"I'm going to take this really quick; be right back." Rini rushed to her room and answered the phone right before it went to voicemail. "Hello?"

"Hi, Rini?" The voice on the other end sounded like Gohan. The princess smiled at hearing his voice.

"Gohan? I'm surprised you actually picked up a phone! What's up?" Rini's tone was pretty joyous. She could imagine Gohan feeling a tad embarrassed on the other end.

"Not much… I just felt like calling to say 'hey.' Hehehe…" Gohan obviously didn't talk on the phone much. There was a moment of silence before he started talking again. "The tournament is tomorrow and I wanted to wish you luck, too."

Rini covered the bottom of the phone where she would normally speak into and giggled a bit as she squirmed excitedly. She uncovered her phone and then spoke, "Thanks, Gohan. I think you'll probably win, though. I might be good at fighting, but I'm not _that_ good. Especially at hand-to-hand combat."

"I'm sure you'll do fine! If anything, you'll at least get within the top five." Gohan tried to encourage her before remembering that with himself, his father, Videl, Piccolo, Vegeta, Krillin, and Eighteen entering the tournament that Rini's chance of getting in even the top five would be hard for the girl if it wasn't impossible. "And if you don't, I bet you'll have fun anyway."

"Yeah. I look forward to a match with you or Videl for fun… but if your dad is as strong as I suspect you are… I'm not sure if I look forward to it or rue it." Rini laughed dryly. She was getting a case of the nerves.

"I think it might be fun to have a friendly match with you or any of the others I know who are entering." Gohan was smiling, Rini knew.

Rini nodded to herself. Gohan was right. "Yeah." She agreed. "How many friends do you have that are planning to enter?"

"Um…" Gohan counted on his fingers. "Well, there's my dad, Videl, Piccolo, Vegeta, Krillin and his wife. So, six." Gohan told her. While she had no clue these people were that he named off, she had a feeling that each of them was probably pretty tough.

"Well, I guess I've got my work cut out for me." She sighed. "Why do you have to be so darned amazing?" She laughed after asking this.

"I'm sorry?" Gohan wasn't sure that an apology was appropriate, but he felt compelled to do so.

"It's okay. This is all for the sake of fun. I hope you don't mind me hanging out with you while all your martial artist friends are around."

"What? Why would I mind? I'm sure they would like your company—except maybe Vegeta, but he doesn't warm up to people much…" Gohan sounded thoughtful. "Regardless, I still just wanted to say 'Good luck' and I hope that you do your best!"

"I will. You do your best too!"

"Alright, then." Gohan's voice sounded very calm at that moment.

"Well then, I have some company over right now and shouldn't ignore them too much longer or they might bug me. Goodnight, Gohan."

"Ah… Goodnight." Rini hung up first and then immediately hugged her phone. She was pretty psyched at receiving a call from the guy she liked. While she considered herself mature, she was still a teenage girl at heart.

Rini went back to the two asteroid scouts crashed on her couch in the living room to endure the interrogation that she knew would come. The girl lied to them and said it had just been Hotaru. She made a mental note to tell Hotaru that she had used her to hide a conversation with Gohan. The three scouts then continued chattering and laughing for a few hours before Jun Jun and Vesu Vesu decided to head to Setsuna's apartment.

At the stadium the next day, after a very large group sailor planet teleport to the island the tournament was held on, there were crowds as far as the eye could see. People lined up outside the entrance for what could probably come close to half a mile. And more, still, were arriving. Apparently, fighting was a huge spectator sport. Rini was a tad shocked by the crowds.

Luckily, her parents and a surprising number of the scouts had reserved tickets to the tournament as soon as they had heard of the princess's plan to enter. Rini didn't want to cause a scene, but she had to enter through the registration entrance in her scout guise unless she wanted to be identified by classmates she knew were watching the tourney from the audience.

Once signed in, Rini waited near the registration desk to see if she could spot Gohan or Videl. Oddly enough, she didn't seem to be flocked by fans. Though there was an occasional person walking by that glanced as if they wondered if she was the _real_ Mini Moon. Rini leaned against a brick wall as she scanned the crowds of fighters as they entered through the gate on her left. _No sign of anyone I know… and most of these guys seem pretty easy to beat._ Her eyes fell on a man of average height wearing what she thought looked like a white sheet being used in a classic Halloween ghost fashion. Except he had mask with an attached cape that was a navy color. Going to this tournament almost seemed like going to a convention as she saw more costumes. Then she felt a strange churning in her gut. Red eyes focused on two entrants who had just walked by.

The two that caused Rini's senses to spike paused for a moment as they went by her and then they kept moving. She was intrigued by their formal-looking clothes. And one of the men, though not a human male, was extremely short while the other was extremely tall. Both had pointed ears and the short one had purple skin and a white mohawk. The other one had white hair as well, but his was long and straight, very well-kept, and his skin was a dark shade of pink. _Those two… something strange about them._ Before she could think anymore, a voice called out to her.

"Mini Moon! Hey!" The voice belonged to Gohan as he approached with a rather large group. He wore his revised Saiyaman outfit. Chichi was walking near Goten, so Rini figure that parents of those in the junior division were allowed through the participant gate. Goten walked at his big brother's side until he saw Rini. The young boy smiled and launched himself into Rini to give her a hug.

"My brother says that I have to use 'Mini Moon' here, but that's okay." Goten told her. Rini laughed at the boy's obvious excitement as she put him down on the ground. Another young boy close to Goten's age stood next to where Goten was put down. This boy had a proud look in the way he carried himself. His short lilac-colored hair bounced ever so slightly as he walked. When he stopped, Rini absorbed his appearance and remembered Goten mentioning a boy named Trunks.

"Hey, it's nice to see you guys again!" Rini smiled behind her white mask and then looked at a shorter man with a red shirt and tan sweatpants who walked up to her.

The man extended his hand and took hold of hers to shake. The man said, with a great amount of humor, "Hi, I'm Krillin. You must be Gohan's girlfriend; it's such a pleasure to meet you." He turned to Gohan as Rini said nothing. "She's way cute, Gohan. You're such a lucky dog!"

"Knock it off, Krillin, sheesh." Gohan blushed a little, but brushed off Krillin's teasing with no difficulty. "Yeah, that's Krillin." The young half-Saiyan took a breath before introducing the rest of the crew to Rini. He gestured to each one as he said the names. "This is Eighteen, Krillin's wife. Here's Vegeta, Trunks, Bulma, Piccolo… and this guy here…" Gohan was on the last one. The last man looked like an older version of Goten and wore similar clothes as well. "This one is my dad." He said this with a great deal of happiness.

Rini nodded in acknowledgement to each of them as their name had been revealed. She walked up to Goku with a smile and shook his strong hand. "I'm Rini, but please call me Mini Moon while there are others around." She noticed that Gohan's father had a halo floating over his head.

"I'm Goku. So, are you Gohan's girlfriend like Krillin says?" Goku was smiling. He was very innocent in the way he asked his question.

"We're just friends right now… but if that changes, you'll be among the first to know." Rini tried to roll with it since Goku was so genuine. She turned to Gohan, "I thought there would be more people from the way you talked."

"Oh, there were more in our group but they went to find seats." Gohan replied.

The big group lessened a little more when they came up to more gates that had some of the attendants (identified by their orange robes and cylindrical hats) instructing them that only participants were allowed beyond these gates. Chichi and Bulma wished their men good luck and went to find their seats.

"So," Goku looked around before using her real name, "Rini, are your parents here?" He asked her as they walked on to the area where they would receive further instructions.

"They're somewhere in the audience. So are a lot of my friends from my hometown. I'm sure they'll make themselves known…" the princess had a feeling that Mina's fans would recognize her from a movie and demand autographs. And Michiru and Haruka were pretty famous too, being a violinist and a racer/pianist made them very conspicuous. And she somehow felt that the others would just be noticed for being with them. Especially the Amazoness Quartet.

"Well, you'll have to introduce us sometime! I'd love to meet 'em!" Goku sounded very enthusiastic. Then again, he seemed just pumped in general. Rini suspected he might just be happy to be with his friends and family after years of being dead.

"Sure." Rini nodded.

The group walked on, catching up with Goku and chatting up a storm, and soon met up with Videl. The champ's daughter was sporting shorter hair and a big grin as she walked up to the group.

"You're lucky I recognized you." Videl directed her comment at Gohan.

"Hey Videl." Gohan greeted her.

"Hey Gohan, what's with the turban and shades look?" The girl seemed confused.

Gohan shushed her quickly, "I'm entering as the Great Saiayaman."

"Ah, got it. I won't tell a soul, then." Videl nodded.

"So, have you perfected your flying?" Gohan asked her.

"Oh yeah, now I'm twice as fast!" Videl brought up her right hand and displayed a V for 'victory.'

"_All contestants for the world martial arts tournament please report to the warm up pavilion. Preliminaries will begin with or without you." _ A voice played over the intercom system that was set up at various locations around the resort to alert the fighters.

"I guess we'd better get going. I'll catch up with you guys later." Videl waved briefly and dashed off.

Rini looked at Gohan. He was watching Videl leave. The sailor scout wondered if Gohan was interested in Videl. She let the thought leave her mind just as quickly as it had entered. It was Gohan's choice and if he did like Videl, Rini knew she'd have to just live with it.

The group soon arrived in the locker room for the contestants. This was for those who still had to change or freshen up. Though it appeared that most fighters arrived in the clothes that they planned to fight in. Trunks and Vegeta were quick to change as the others waited. Goku and Goten played a bit and Gohan talked with Piccolo. Rini found herself glancing at each of the members of this group and feeling a bit timid. These were Gohan's friends and she was the outcast among this rag-tag team.

When the group walked in to the warm up pavilion, a blond man with a suit and sunglasses that Rini recognized as the announcer of the tournament due to seeing a few commercials with him. (Seriously, I searched the web and couldn't find a name for the announcer! But any dedicated DB/Z/GT fan knows who he is!) The announcer waltzed up to Goku, Piccolo and Krillin and started conversing with them like an old friend. The smile on Gohan's face said he was happy that someone knew how great Goku is.

"Ah…" Rini thought for a moment that she saw someone peeking over the wall of the warm up pavilion but figured she must've imagined it. Or it was a crazed fan of one of the fighters. Both seemed reasonable guesses.

"What's up?" Gohan noticed Rini looking at something behind him and took a moment to turn around.

"Oh, nothing. I just thought I saw something. No big." She smiled and excused the matter with a light-hearted, nervous laugh.

Goku, Gohan, Rini and the rest of the gang circled around a tournament official who looked like he was readying a microphone for a big announcement. There were so many competitors starting to circle that the group was scattered a bit in the crowd, but Rini managed to stay at Gohan's side.

One of the attendants began to gather all the younger entrants for the junior division so that he could escort them onward.

"Goten, good luck out there!" Rini told the boy before he left the group. He nodded excitedly.

"Hey, Sport, you get out there and have fun. And do your best to beat Trunks in the final." Gohan told him. At Gohan's words, Vegeta's ears perked up. Goku then went to Goten and put a hand on his son's head.

"Goten, do your best out there! You'll definitely win!" Goku grinned as he encouraged his son.

"Son, don't lose to Kakarot's son or you'll have to do 10,000 laps."

Trunks looked surprised by the sudden energy in his father's voice, but nodded anyway. "Okay."

The two youngsters then went to the group of junior division competitors which was then escorted off toward the ring where all the matches would take place.

"Attention, please! The prelims for the world martial arts tournament now begin!" A short, stocky man in glasses spoke to all the competitors through a handy dandy microphone. "One hundred and ninety-seven people have entered the adult tournament. Unfortunately, there are only sixteen spots. By the rules, the defending champion, Mr. Satan, is automatically qualified. If you do the math that leaves fifteen spots."

Goku could be heard murmuring some numbers. Rini heard him from a few people over as he arrived at the solution to the math problem. She giggled lightly. Gohan looked at Rini and was a little embarrassed by his father's slow math skills, but he was relieved that Rini seemed to find it funny instead of embarrassing. He smiled briefly before the official started talking again.

"To ensure fairness, we'll select the finalists by way of punching strength. The fifteen people with the highest scores on the machine will be given the fifteen spots." The man continued routinely and professionally.

"Punch machine? That's a new one." Krillin seemed a bit confused by the idea of a machine punching competition.

"Now, to test out the new punching machine and give us a score to go by, we asked the defending world champion to make the first hit; Mr. Satan, would you come out, please!" The official declared.

Hercule did his usual routine of showboating as much as possible and eating up the crowd's praise. He paraded up to a machine sitting off to the side of the official. The machine looked very basic. It was a large metal contraption with a pressure measuring system built in under what looked like a big red button. There was a screen display at the top of the machine to show what most in the on-looking crowd supposed would be the score.

Hercule began posing for pictures and strutting his muscles. Videl was a bit embarrassed, Rini could see her crossing her arms in the gaggle of people. All of Hercule's fans were going bonkers for the great shots and the princess could see how that would be horribly embarrassing. Suddenly, all the cameras in the vicinity started blowing up on a micro-scale, just enough to break the cameras and not hurt anybody.

While the champ looked bummed, Rini could see the relief on Videl's face, as well as Piccolo's face. Gohan smiled, amused.

"Piccolo?" The young Saiyan asked.

"This is a place for competition and displaying our skills as fighters, not for his charades." Piccolo stated clearly. Gohan and Rini both nodded.

_Piccolo's such a serious guy… And he trained Gohan at some point?_ Rini's gaze was on Piccolo for a few seconds longer before she looked up at the punching machine again. Hercule was getting ready to actually punch the thing.

_This ought to be good. _The thought ran through many minds.

**A/N: Sorry to end here, guys! I've been incredibly busy lately and I feel like I owe you all a chapter! I'll try to bust one out over the next week. I've decided the next chapter will focus more on the scouts while they're at the tourney! ^^**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The defending champ drew back his muscled right arm and shouted, "Satan Punch!" Clearly, this was a signature move of his, the on-looking fans were silent in anticipation as the white numbers on the punching machine went up and then gradually started falling as it calculated the man's punching strength. The numbers stopped at exactly 137.

"Incredible! Mr. Satan has just scored 137 points!" The tournament official seemed very impressed as he announced this into his microphone. Most in the crowd gasped in amazement. Rini noticed that Gohan's groups seemed less than intrigued while Hercule breathed heavily and Videl cheered on her father.

"Good luck to all you fighters! I hope one of you can at least break 100 so we can have a decent match!" The champ decided it was time to leave the pavilion and headed through an open doorway of one of the many buildings.

_He seems overly cocky. I bet every single one of Gohan's friends is going to beat that…_ Rini pondered for a moment before looking over to Gohan in his Saiyaman costume.

"All entries please form a line in front of the punching machine after you've been assigned a number." The official requested.

All the fighters soon had numbers. It was very surprising at how quickly this had been done. The group that Gohan and Rini were part of had mostly gotten filtered toward the front. However, Rini and Gohan were near the back, which both found unfair. The first one of the group would be Eighteen, who had coincidentally been assigned to the number eighteen.

When the official called her number, Eighteen went up to the machine. Krillin was seen saying something to her under his breath. Most likely something about holding back her real strength so as to not freak out the other contestants. She looked very irritated by the reminder and kept one hand in her pocket as she casually took the other and quickly struck the machine's pressure button with the back of her left fist. The numbers on the machine skyrocketed! The machine showed a whopping 774 on the screen. All onlookers were in awe once the official read off the score. The official took a few steps up to Eighteen and insisted that the machine must be out of order and that she should give it a second try.

Eighteen took a breath and then cautiously approached the machine a second time, striking again with the back of her left fist. This time the machine stopped at 203. The gasps continued as the official read off that score. The tournament organizers decided to take the second number and moved on.

Krillin was next; he scored 192. When Goku's turn came up, he scored 186, proving he was even better at holding back than the first two. Piccolo went about striking the machine in the same fashion Eighteen had. His score was 210. At this point, the official was thoroughly convinced that the pressure mechanism in the machine was broken. He asked one of the other employees to go fetch the other machine just as Vegeta walked up to the machine.

"Stand aside!" Vegeta commanded as he stopped in front of the machine. Then he punched the machine with, what Rini guessed, his best restraint. It was safe to assume that holding back was not Vegeta's strong point because the machine had blown to pieces upon impact. Part of it had even knocked down a nearby tree and made a hefty dent in the wall around the pavilion.

It was safe to say that Vegeta had just secured himself a spot in the tournament as he walked off to rejoin the group he had arrived with.

Rini was surprised and also expectant at the same time. She knew two things at that moment. 1) Her mouth was hanging open and 2) that Gohan's friends were insanely powerful.

"So much for restraining…" Gohan muttered from Rini's side.

"Gohan…" Rini gathered his attention. "If I end up fighting him, will you beg him not to punch a hole through my gut?" She sounded as nervous as she felt. These people were on a whole different level than she was. And while it was exciting, it was also a little scary because she would probably have to face at least one of them in the upcoming fights.

"Sure thing." Gohan put a hand on her shoulder. He could tell she was feeling a bit distraught by Vegeta's display. "He's really not that bad of a guy once you get to know him…" Gohan chuckled a bit.

"We're experiencing a few… technical difficulties…" The official announced to the crowd of competitors. "But we should be getting a new machine out here pretty quick so, uh, stick around."

It was then that Goku turned to Vegeta and spoke up. "Hey, I heard they're going to start the junior division in a few minutes in the main arena. Do you want to go?" The man sounded enthusiastic to watch the youngsters fight. Vegeta, crossing his arms, nodded.

"Fine, let's go. Anything's better than this lame sideshow." As Goku, Vegeta, Krillin, Piccolo and Eighteen made their way toward the main arena, the crowd of fighters parted. The group stopped as they approached Gohan and Rini in the line.

"Hey, we're going to go watch Trunks and Goten fight! Don't want to be late! See you guys once you're done!" Goku had a smile fixed on his face. After that, the group kept moving.

"Good luck, Gohan!" Krillin chirped as they walked out.

"Later." Gohan replied.

In the audience seats that circled the main arena, Serena and Darien had cozy seats near the front for a great view. While neither particularly loved the idea of Rini fighting in the tournament, they did want to support her. And so did the rest of the sailor scouts. Rei, Mina, Lita, Amy, Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, Hotaru, and all of the asteroid scouts had seats next to their king and queen. They all wore their civilian clothes, of course, because they didn't want to draw attention to themselves. Well, none of them wanted attention except Mina. She insisted that since her break into the movie-making business, she couldn't go anywhere without getting asked for autographs or photos. And she was right, for once.

As Mina signed her 45th autograph for the day, Lita sighed. "Gosh, Mina, you really have gotten pretty famous. I might have to ask for an autograph myself just so I can sell it for extra money! Not that my bakery doesn't do well; I can always use extra to buy more baking supplies!" The brown-haired woman still wore her pink rose earrings and had the habit of tying her hair back in a ponytail. She dressed casually in jeans and a green fitted T-shirt. Mina's fan scampered off to catch up with her parents.

Lita almost felt under-dressed when she looked at Mina's expensive wardrobe. The starlet wore a lovely knee-length white skirt with intricate lace details at the bottom of it, a deep violet, sleeveless scoop neck shirt, a plethora of necklaces, white heels from some brand name in America that Lita couldn't pronounce and topped the look off with some designer sunglasses and her trademark red bow. Michiru wore something similar to Mina but had chosen more of water toned theme. And Haruka wore a casual white dress suit and her sunglasses.

Rei wore a simple purple spring dress. Amy was in a three-quarter sleeve blue fitted shirt and a dark navy pencil skirt. Hotaru wore a black tank top and denim shorts with some sunglasses because her eyes were sometimes sensitive to sunlight on sunny days like this one. The Amazoness quartet wore virtually the same as Hotaru but in their own respective colors, and Cere Cere layered with a cropped, sheer lilac vest over her lacey pink camisole.

The scouts did get attention for being a large group of attractive women, but that was fine with most of them.

Once the announcer walked out to the main arena to tell the audience that the junior division would be starting soon, Mina sighed heavily.

"I thought we came to watch Rini. What's this about a junior division? Do we have to watch kids beat each other up first?" She sounded remarkably unenthusiastic about sitting around that long. She looked at Hotaru and Rei. They also looked like they didn't want to wait. The asteroid scouts were surprisingly interested in this junior division, though.

"Mina, you can go hang out in the restaurant or wander around if you don't want to watch. Just come back when the adults start to fight." Lita told the starlet as if she was reading the mind of their queen.

Serena nodded. "That's fine with me too. As long as you come back to support Rini." The approval of the queen seemed to be what the three were waiting for. They exchanged smiles and started on their way to one of the many spectator areas, leaving behind their king, queen, Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, Lita, Amy and the quartet.

"All we'll miss is kids fighting and the premiere of the Cell Games movie. I've seen it; not that good. And I'm pretty sure it's completely false." Mina told the girls as they walked off.

On the way, they crossed paths with a crew the Hotaru felt was similar to Gohan. The energies were enough to get her to look back at them after passing completely. She saw that Rei had noticed them as well and the ladies exchanged glances.

"They were… not normal humans." Rei stated the obvious thought.

"What?" Mina seemed to be the only one not able to sense the oddity that the other two had felt.

"I noticed. The energies they possess feel similar to Gohan's." Hotaru observed.

""Who?" Mina chirped.

"Gohan is a new friend of the princess. He's entered the tournament under a different name, Saiyaman, I think. He has very strong energies, much like Rei and I just felt." Hotaru explained with a gesture toward Rei upon mentioning her.

"Interesting. I'm definitely going to look forward to watching those people now." Rei nodded in acknowledgement of the group they had passed. "I think they all have a part in my recent vision…"

"You don't say?" Mina asked, this time aware of what was being discussed. "What role do you think they played?"

"Something tells me they were the noble heroes. Except for maybe the angry-looking man." Rei tired to lighten the mood with a quick joke. The other two giggled.

The three wandering scouts made their way to the area that did not allow spectator's and before they got to the doorway, made a nonchalant turn to the right, continuing on the paved path. They walked on for a few minutes more until Mina stopped them at a tall wall that looked like it was made to keep them out.

"I think this is it, here!" Mina said this out loud but mostly to herself. She turned to Rei and Hotaru abruptly, making the black haired beauties jump a bit. "One of you, give me a lift! I think this is the pavilion, where the fighters hang until they decide who's actually going on to the main arena!"

"And why do you want to peek in there? Surely it's not just because Rini is probably there…" Rei put her hands on her hips and shook her head. Mina hadn't changed at all after all these years.

"Well, Rini is one reason. Hunky men are another! Lots of fighters chisel their bodies in preparation for this tournament! And some of the tournament circuit regulars are notable!" Mina declared her reasons with a raised index finger and the girls could almost see a thought bubble above Mina's head filled with shirtless, chiseled men. Hotaru sighed as Rei was quiet for a moment.

"Once I heft your butt up, you have to lend me a hand too!" Rei made her condition.

"Rei, not you too!" Hotaru whimpered. She was the only one not interested in seeing sweaty, half-naked strangers at that moment. Ignoring Hotaru's griping, Rei allowed Mina to stand on her shoulders and was able to stand still until the blonde starlet was able to secure a position on top of the wall. Mina then held an arm down for Rei and pulled with all her might to get the raven-haired shrine maiden up on the wall with her. Both now looked down at Hotaru, each silently holding out a hand for the younger girl to take. Hotaru gave in. She knew they wouldn't let her say no. As they pulled her up, they could hear the cheers from the main arena for a young boy named Trunks.

As the three girls peered over the wall, they saw the hundreds of fighters who had come to participate in the tournament. Hotaru almost immediately spotted Rini and Gohan in their crime fighting clothes. She pointed.

"There's Rini!" She told the other two in a hushed tone.

Rei and Mina followed Hotaru's finger with their eyes and saw Rini in her Mini Moon uniform. They both marveled at how cute their princess was for a moment before Mina snorted in laughter.

"Look at that dork next to her! Ha—His costume is so ridiculous!" Mina pointed at Saiyaman and laughed loudly enough that Rei covered the girl's mouth with her hand for fear of being discovered. Hotaru chuckled a little bit.

"Mina, that's Gohan. The Great Saiyaman that Rini's been working with lately."

"What? She's been fighting side by side with a guy dressed like that?" Mina was shocked. She hadn't seen the actual broadcasts yet, only heard word of the princess fighting crime with a young man.

"Hm, we can't really see his face because of the glasses and turban," Rei observed before turning her attention to Hotaru, "Is he handsome?"

"He's cute, I'll give him that. And he's a pretty nice guy all around. Terribly naïve but weighs that nicely with insane superhuman strength. In other words, he can afford his weaknesses." Hotaru enlightened the older ladies with her view of Gohan.

"So, is he ripped?" Mina asked.

"Is that all you care about, Mina?" Hotaru asked her indignantly. Mina's silent stare was all she needed in response. "Fine, yes, he's ripped." Hotaru's irritation was apparent.

"What are you doing up there?" A voice surprised the three girls so much that they all lost balance. Hotaru and Rei regained their balance but Mina toppled off the wall back to the side she had climbed up before. When she looked up at who had been addressing them, she saw a girl about Rini's age. This girl had short black hair, big blue eyes that were narrowed and a certain fire in her voice. Mina thought this girl was familiar, but where from? Movies, TV, magazines?

Hotaru and Rei both slid down the wall and landed elegantly on their feet at Mina's side. Hotaru was the first to speak up as Rei helped Mina to her feet.

"We were just looking at the fighters… you see, we know some of them. And we wanted to see how they were doing."

"Rules are rules, you need a special pass to get beyond that wall." The girl put her hands on her hips. She was wearing clothes that said she was also one of the fighters. A white tank top layered with a pink shirt and accompanied by black spandex shorts and combat boots.

"Sorry, but who are _you_, the tournament police?" Mina wanted to fight for the right to trespass, it seemed. Rei and Hotaru both knew this wouldn't work and willingly stood back to watch Mina's failed attempt.

"I'm Videl Satan. And I'll call the police if you insist on causing trouble."

"Satan… Videl… You couldn't be? Hercule's daughter?" Mina now knew why Videl seemed familiar. Mina had worked briefly with Hercule in a commercial a few years back and Videl had come by the set at some point to ask her father for something.

"I am."

"That cute little Videl? I remember how polite you were on set!" Mina started getting stars in her eyes as she squealed admiringly at the memory.

"On set?" Videl contemplated while observing Mina. "Miss Aino?" The gears could've made an audible click with how wide Videl's eyes were when she realized.

"Yes, ma'am!" Mina did a Sailor V pose, which was the role she had become most known for about fifteen years back. It had also been her debut, which most of the other scouts found funny. Mina had almost not gotten the role of herself.

"It's nice to see you again!" Videl reached for Mina's hand and shook it.

Rei and Hotaru just looked on in confusion as Mina quickly winked at them. The confusion turned into disappointed stares.

"So, who do you know that's fighting?" Videl asked with a smile.

"Er, well, you won't believe me but I'll give it a shot. Mini Moon is a longtime friend and the daughter of one of my closest friends, you see…"

"Oh, Mini Moon, huh?" Videl seemed a bit interested. She mulled something over in her mind a bit before clearing her throat. "So, it's Rini, isn't it?"

"GACK!" Rei and Hotaru both looked completely shocked, like they had been spontaneously shot at with a flamethrower.

"How do you know that name?" Mina squeaked nervously.

"Rini's a friend from school… she's hangs out with someone else a lot and he turned out to have a similar secret, so I thought it made more sense if Rini was Mini Moon." Videl explained more than just how she knew Rini. And when it came down to it, none of the scouts felt they could object. Hotaru stepped forward toward Videl.

"Will you promise not to tell anyone? This is for her and her family. We want nothing more than to protect them." Hotaru requested this in as heartfelt a manner as she could.

"Sure. As a favor for an old acquaintance." Videl nodded with a smile. She felt as if she had become more lighthearted since the flying lessons. Normally, she would want to ask why it should be kept secret. When she thought of Rini, and all the nice things she'd said, Videl didn't really have a desire to expose Mini Moon's identity.

"Thank you, Videl." Hotaru meant it as she smiled.

As the three scouts returned to the main arena some time later, they each carried some food with them and the crowd was going positively wild. The junior division was now in the finals and it was Goten against Trunks. The girls had heard the boys advancing through their matches over the intercoms that covered the entire island.

"What'd we miss?" Rei asked Serena as they all sat down once again.

"Goten and Trunks have been winning the whole time. Some mothers in the front got in a squabble and the mother of two other boys passed out at some point, I think." Serena couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from the ring.

"These boys aren't completely human. They can fly and something about their auras just screams nonhuman to me." Darien told the ladies.

"Goten is Gohan's little brother." Vesu Vesu whispered among the group. "I met him when the princess was getting her flying lessons."

"Gohan, as in the nice young man Rini's been seeing lately?" Amy had heard from Serena over the last week or so, gushing about how polite he was toward the family and their daughter.

"The very same!" Jun Jun nodded.

All the scouts looked on at the fight as it intensified. The boys were throwing flurries of techniques that about 99% of the audience couldn't follow because of sheer speed behind them.

"Man! I can't believe how much we're missing here!" Gohan was growing more impatient by the minute. He really wanted to go cheer on his little brother. Rini stood in front of him in the line but turned to look at him.

"It'll be okay, _Saiyaman_. I'm sure we'll be through this line soon. They just got the other machine calibrated." Rini smiled at him

Her smile worked like magic on Gohan's antsy shuffling. He calmed down a bit and nodded. "Yeah, I hope you're right."

"Of course I am." Rini assured him with a wink and a sly grin. Her gesture made him chuckle. She giggled with him and then looked up toward his eyes. She couldn't see them behind his sunglasses but she could imagine them looking back at her.

Gohan felt his heart beating when he looked at Rini and he once again remembered the embrace they shared just days ago. His face grew warm as Rini turned her attention back to the front of the line. It was moving!

_Rini, you really are something._ Gohan thought this as he looked at the back of her head.

The line moved forward quickly and Rini's turn came up. She wasn't sure at all what she would score.

"Alright, miss, go ahead." The official encouraged the pink-haired heroine. She stepped up to the machine and took a deep breath. She briefly looked back at Gohan to receive a quick thumbs up. The princess readied herself with another deep breath in and out and pulled her right arm back a tad. The punch was released on the machine and the numbers started going up.

The numbers finally stopped after many seconds of going up and then down again. _172_. Rini looked at the machine for a moment before absorbing what the screen read. Then she hopped up and down excitedly and then turned and hugged Saiyaman with a delighted squeal.

Gohan blushed a bit and smiled at her before clearing his throat to get her attention. Rini realized what she was doing and quickly released her friend and sheepishly stepped aside to let Gohan take his turn.

The Saiyan went up to the machine and wasted no time punching the mechanism. His scored stopped on 193.

Before the official had any time to be amazed, the two jogged off to the main arena, knowing they had both secured a place in the top 16. As they ran side-by-side, Gohan noticed that Rini's jog wasn't quite as fast as his and took hold of her hand.

"To help." He said simply. Rini's stomach fluttered a bit and she kept up her pace to stay at his side. Their hands had stayed clasped until they reached the main arena.

Hotaru saw Rini rushing into the audience area with Gohan. They were going toward Gohan's group. They were hanging around a standing area, leaning over the rails. Hotaru casually sauntered over to them.

"Huh? Hello there, who are you?" Goku asked Hotaru pleasantly. Hotaru nodded her acknowledgement to Goku.

"I'm one of Mini Moon's friends, Hotaru Tomoe. You must be Gohan's father, right? You two look a lot alike."

"That's right. My name's Goku. Nice to meet you, Hotaru." Goku smiled. The rest of the strangers in the group, except a particular angry-looking man, uttered a greeting of some kind. Hotaru smiled and made her way to Rini and Gohan.

"Hey, you two! I take it that you both made it through the prelims?" the scout of Saturn had an expectant look on her face as she crossed her arms.

"Yeah, we did. Rini scored a 172 and I got a 193."

Upon overhearing, Goku quipped, "193? Decent restraint, Gohan!" Though he sounded like he was joking because he followed up with a chuckle.

"I tried. At least I didn't break the machine." Gohan made a point. Vegeta growled irritably. "If these pitiful mortals weren't so weak, that wouldn't have been such an issue for them." Vegeta stubbornly crossed his arms and glared off to the side as if he was too sick of the human sympathy to even dignify them with a glance. The group continued chatting a bit as Goten and Trunks were just finishing up their time in the ring. Trunks had knocked Goten out of bounds and Goku's youngest son had accidentally touched solid structure outside of the ring while trying to stop himself from whirring into the audience.

Trunks had won, much to Vegeta's pride, and the announcement made it official. The boy would be conducting an exhibition match with Hercule. And the group decided that this would be an opportune time to bail and go eat.

The Saiyans ate their fill at the tournament restaurant, stacking piles and piles of dishes on the tables. Rini and Hotaru were shocked.

"I'm… kind of extremely grossed out…" Hotaru was almost too shocked to speak coherently. Krillin nodded and pat the younger girl on the shoulder.

"That's how I felt the first time I saw a Saiyan chow fest! It's just gross, right?" The short man then laughed at his own comment as if reliving a hilarious moment from his past.

Rini was sitting at a table with Gohan, Hotaru and Piccolo; the tables were all close though. Since Hotaru was talking with Krillin and Gohan was gorging himself, Rini turned to look at Piccolo. The green man noticed and looked back at her.

"So, Piccolo, you used to train Gohan when he was younger?"

"I did. He was a whiner at first but he's become my finest student." Piccolo sounded like a proud parent when he spoke about Gohan.

Gohan spoke up between mouthfuls, "Aren't I also your only student?"

"That's something to take pride in." Piccolo replied.

Rini giggled. Maybe this group would be more inviting than she had initially thought. They were certainly friendly, just different than the typical run-of-the-mill people. Soon enough, everyone had eaten as much as they could and the group set out to the locker rooms because they knew that the drawing for matches would be soon. However, on the way to the arena, they ran into the two particular characters that Rini had seen when she arrived at the tournament.

Rini felt the same strange vibe from earlier as the short purple man and the tall pink man approached them. And after looking at everyone else's faces, it was apparent that they, too, felt the unusual vibe from these two.

"Are you Goku?" The short purple man spoke up at last, to Goku.

**A/N: Wow, I pumped that one out pretty quickly. Mostly because I didn't cover the junior division in depth and just got to wing it with the scouts. I love Mina and Rei when they interact; it's almost as much fun as when Serena and Rei argue! And I tossed in Hotaru for good measure. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter because next time the adult tournament will finally be starting! Anyway, I gotta go to class… so later!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Awaiting an answer to his question, the purple-skinned man smiled slyly at Goku. The fighter absorbed the words, realizing they were directed at him.

"Yeah, that's me. How did you know my name is Goku?"

"Your reputation as a great fighter precedes you. I was actually hoping for a chance to fight you in the tournament." The man told him, his smile growing ever slyer with each moment.

Rini found this odd. Someone actually wanted to fight against Goku and she suspected that the stranger could feel the energy of each fighter in the group. And that just made it seem even stranger.

The small man continued as Goku looked confused, "It's not that I'm confident about beating you, not at all. It's just that I want the greatest challenge that I can think of. And I know you're a man who understands that." He ignored the baffled faces of the group. "Well then, it was a real pleasure, I'm honored. And I'm very much looking forward to today's competition. I've traveled very far for this opportunity to meet you in battle. You might even say that I'm one of your biggest fans. In any case, after meeting you, I'm certain I won't be disappointed."

"Gosh, thanks!" Goku seemed taken aback as he couldn't think of what else to say to the man's open challenge.

"Goku, may I shake your hand?" The man held out his hand, waiting for Goku to take hold. The hero took a moment and looked at the hand. Then he smiled.

"Yeah, of course!" As they made contact, both seemed to feel something about the other. The stranger's smirk grew. Goku wasn't sure what it was he felt but he was certain it was unlike any vibe he'd felt before.

"Thank you, you're as brave as everyone says you are." The strange man bowed slightly with his right arm in front of his body. "Good day." And with that, he turned back to the tall, silent pink man. The two walked off before Goku had a chance to even ask for a name.

"I don't like the feel of it," Piccolo said to Goku as he came up behind him. "They're strong."

"Real strong." Goku agreed with the Namekian.

"Gohan," Rini whispered to Gohan, "Something isn't right about them. But I don't quite know what…"

"Yeah, they're definitely suspicious." Gohan nodded.

"But hey, isn't that what this tournament's about? Finding the unexpected challenge and seeing who emerges as the victor?" Goku retained his cheerfulness and fighting spirit.

Vegeta contemplated with an audible grunt as Krillin looked unsure, watching the strangers disappearing to a different area of the tournament resort. "I don't know," Krillin mused, "They don't seem all that strong to me, guys. To tell the truth, I don't think they know what they're getting themselves into."

"Well, we'll find out soon enough won't we? I, for one, would be more than happy to take on either of those two clowns." Vegeta contemplated, completely confident in his abilities to win.

After a quick decision not to fully trust the two strangers because of the strange power they sensed, the group moved on due to Krillin's impatient coaxing. "Come on, guys! Let's get out of here and go find out who made it into the tournament."

They started walking, Rini keeping close to Gohan's side. She wasn't sure what to make of all this. She just felt that she'd be protected if Gohan was nearby. The group kept moving toward the pavilion once more, to check on the drawings. 15 of the 16 fighters were present, as Hercule was reported to be 'unavailable' and insisted that they continue the drawing without him. Gohan, Rini and the others in the group had a hunch that Trunks had done a number on Hercule during the exhibition match and that the champ had somehow played it off without the audience thinking he was a weakling.

Videl saw Gohan's group walk in and joined them with a smile. She looked at Rini in particular for just a moment and then focused on the announcer before the heroine noticed her stare.

Since the participants were all accounted for, the blonde announcer raised a hand to gather attention. "Okay people, this is how it works: I will call your name and you will come up here to draw a ball. The balls you choose will determine your opponents in the match."

At that moment, Krillin brought his hands together in a pleading manner, asking not to be paired with any of his friends as if he expected a higher power to concede to his demand. Piccolo assured him not to worry because he couldn't really control it. Krillin still thought it wouldn't hurt to try. Goku and the others spent a few moments analyzing the other fighters.

There was a strange man in a long white tunic and a blue cape with an attached hood that doubled as a mask. He was moving oddly as he did what could only be guessed as stretching. There were two competitors with black outfits on, shaved heads marked with 'M' tattoos on their foreheads. Both looked very angry about something. The two strangers from earlier, the pink man and the purple man were present as well. That was 5 so far. (I'm counting for my sake as well as Goku's.) Plus Gohan and Goku's group of 8 and the champ, that made 14. The last two spots were filled by a large man looking to be an Arabian sumo wrestler or at least an Arabian with the girth of a sumo wrestler, and a black man who looked like he may be a boxer from the way he dressed.

Lots were drawn. Once numbers were assigned, the numbers of each fighter were relayed through radio to attendants standing in the main arena. The names were then written on a board under the numbers marked under the grid for the matches in the main arena. There was also a board to mark in the pavilion. The arena board was mostly there so that the audience knew that the competitors were being matched up. The matches were decided as follows.

1. Krillin, 2. Pintar (the large Arabian)

3. Shin (the purple man), 4. Piccolo (Ma Junior, an alias to not scare the audience)

5. Mini Moon, 6. Spopovich (the larger of the two men in with the 'M')

7. Kibito (the pink man), 8. Saiyaman

9. Eighteen, 10. Hercule (announcer drew for him since he was 'unavailable')

11. Goku, 12. Vegeta

13. Mighty Mask (odd guy in blue cape) , 14. Killer (black boxer)

15. Videl, 16. Yamu (other guy with 'M')

Rini looked at her opponent a bit nervously. The man was huge and looked extremely angry about something still. The announcer took a few steps to the front of the group and reviewed the rules for the fighters. Then the competitors moved on to the locker rooms that were directly adjacent to the main arena. This area also acted as a waiting room for them to warm up in. The announcer went to the ring and excitedly shouted into his microphone.

"Alright! The matches have all been determined so let's get this tournament under way!"

In the waiting room, the competitors were patiently waiting to be called to the ring while the announcer warmed up the crowd. Goku and Krillin seemed to be happily chatting until they noticed how unnerved Piccolo looked. The Namek was sweating just from feeling Shin's presences nearby, it seemed. Something was definitely off.

Videl looked at him, then at Gohan. "That Piccolo guy… he seems really stressed out over there. Does he get like this before every match?" Gohan and Rini looked at Piccolo. Gohan knew his friend wasn't usually like this, but he didn't want to worry anybody unnecessarily. Rini could tell Piccolo wasn't acting normally. He'd seemed way more like the composed type.

Regardless, Gohan turned back to Videl after looking at Piccolo. "He's pretty serious. This is part of his usual routine." _Man, what's eating at him? Could it really be Shin? Should I be that worried about Kibito?_ The young Saiyan's eyes wandered to the pink and purple strangers.

More casual conversation followed in the room. Goku eagerly stretched for his upcoming match with Vegeta. It was, as Krillin pointed out, like having the last round first. This meant that someone else could potentially win. Again, the others noticed Piccolo's discomfort and tried to assure him that he had nothing to worry about as Shin and Kibito walked into the middle of the room. The group went back to chatting, Krillin trying to convince his lovely wife to swap opponents so that he could be the one to beat Hercule. Piccolo ignored his friends' chatter and focused on Shin.

In the audience, Serena was getting anxious. "I wish they'd start this, already! I'm getting nervous for our baby." She said this more toward Darien than anyone else.

"Don't fret, Serena. She's a tough girl; she's also _way_ more coordinated than you were at her age!" Lita chuckled.

"I know that… but still…" Serena looked at Rei, remembering the fortunes she'd been told about.

"It's alright. Even if something does happen, we'll be right here to intervene." Haruka assured her queen with a pat on the head. "That alone should help your stress, Bun-head."

Serena nodded lightly, a smile on her face from hearing her friend use one of her old nicknames.

Loud voices suddenly gathered attention all around the seating section in the immediate vicinity. From a few rows in front of them, the scouts could see and hear two women arguing. It seemed that they were in a shouting match over whose husband was going to win. Other than being shocked at the energy these women put into their argument, Serena noted something else about them. They were shouting "Goku" and "Vegeta." She knew Gohan's father's name was Goku and one of the asteroid scouts had mentioned earlier that Goten was Gohan's brother. She hatched a plan right there.

"Darien, what would you say to meeting Gohan's mother right now?" Serena smiled slyly.

"That sounds intriguing, I admit." The king mused as he thought it over. "Would you all please wait for us to return?" He requested of the scouts. He didn't think they should all move at once, especially since the space was limited and their group was pretty big. The scouts all nodded and the king and queen rose to their feet.

"Goku will win!"

"Vegeta!"

"Excuse me." Darien caught the attention of the ladies with a polite and suave tone.

"Yeah? Who are you?" Bulma sounded indignant. She clearly wanted to make it known to Chi Chi that Vegeta would win. However, the poor man sitting between the two wives was relieved for the interruption.

"I'm Darien. This is my wife, Serena. We actually wanted to meet a miss Chi Chi…"

"You did? Why?" Chi Chi asked them with utter confusion.

Serena piped up. "You're Gohan's mother, right?"

"Yes… do you know my Gohan?"

"I've had the pleasure to meet him once. He's a friend of our daughter, Rini." Serena grinned broadly. As expected, Chi Chi suddenly became very interested in conversing with the two.

"So you're Rini's parents? I'm pleased to finally meet you! She's such a lovely girl, really!" Chi Chi chattered a bit quickly but Serena could clearly catch each word. The royals sat down next to Chi Chi because there was just enough open space between her and the old man next to her that sported sunglasses and some sort of Hawaiian shirt. "She's been nothing but polite to me! And Goten simply adores her!"

"I'm so glad to hear that!" Serena was always proud to know that she and Darien were doing a fine job of raising their daughter. After a few moments, Serena leaned in and said, in a hushed tone, "What does Gohan think of her?"

"I was hoping you'd ask! I'm pretty sure our children were made for each other!" Chi Chi started, but this was when Bulma and the poor man between Bulma and Chi Chi, Yamcha, tuned out. Darien and Yamcha exchanged glances as Bulma joined in the gossiping. This afternoon might be longer than they'd originally thought.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud to present the first match of the world martial arts tournament! Krillin versus Pintar!" The announcer at last beckoned the first combatants to the ring. As they left the waiting room, Krillin was shoved aside by his massive opponent and fell to the ground for a brief moment. Being so small in comparison wasn't very fun at that point in time (Seriously, I'm small and as much of a rag doll as Krillin…). Krillin glared as his opponent entered the ring yards ahead of him. Both competitors were in the ring, listening to the cheers from the audience. Krillin was calm was again as he looked at Pintar. He knew could easily beat this enormous man.

As soon as the announcer called for the match to begin, Pintar ran at Krillin. But instead of trying to attack, the man halted his charge and then leapt backwards into a series of back flips around the ring. Krillin wasn't really impressed by the display; he was more confused about why the man chose to use up his energy like that. Pintar finished his gymnastic moves with a lovely landing in front of Krillin once again. He seemed to think that doing a bunch of flips would make Krillin nervous.

"You are so lame." Krillin shook his head in exasperation. Pintar continued to laugh.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but you can never hurt me! And just to prove I'm right, I'll give you a little something." Pintar's pompous attitude was overwhelming. The man took a step closer to Krillin and patted his large hand on his enormous, round belly. "I'll give you the first punch, Shorty! Right here in the gut! Now!" He demanded of Krillin.

"'Kay!" Krillin released a brief yell as he landed a punch straight in Pintar's gut. The large Arabian man obviously felt the pain as his eyes bulged and he screamed. Krillin followed his first hit with a combination of slaps and then kicked his opponent out of the ring, nearly causing him to land on the announcer. The audience marveled at the strength Krillin had just shown them before bursting into cheers. The announcer made it official by declaring Krillin the winner of the match.

"Daddy, you're the best!" Marron squeaked from her spot by Bulma, Chi Chi and Yamcha. Yamcha agreed with her and patted her little blonde head.

"She's adorable…" Serena mumbled as she watched Marron. The queen then looked at the faces of Chi Chi and Bulma as they cheered. The ladies were expecting this victory but also very excited about it. She looked at her husband with a curious glance.

"He is human; of that much I'm certain." Darien nodded.

"He's a friend of yours, I take it?" Serena said to Chi Chi.

"Oh yes, for many years now. Our families are very close." Chi Chi smiled.

"A majority of the entrants are actually friends or family." Bulma pointed out.

"Wow, that's impressive." Serena nodded. "Especially with the strange energies I've been sensing from them."

"Whoa, you can sense them?" Yamcha seemed surprised by that.

"Well, he's better at it than I am," Serena pointed at Darien, "but I can pick up on the above average strength. There's certainly a lot of that coming from the competitors." _I just hope none of the super powerful ones are paired up with Rini… who is this Spopovitch fellow, I wonder?_

The king and queen looked on as the announcer began to announce the next match: Ma Junior versus Shin!

_**A\N: I hope you all enjoyed the beginning of the adult tourney! I know the episode doesn't really end there… but I felt this was a fine place based on the chapter length. I'll be trying to get the next chapter up soon. And after Piccolo and Shin comes Rini's match! I'm going to feel terrible after typing it… but it must be done! For any of you who have seen that episode of DBZ, you may have a good idea of what's coming… But hey, it'll probably lead to sweet moments. ;)**_


	13. Chapter 12

Setsuna watched from her seat with interest. Both of the fighters approaching the ring were nonhuman. _The green one is from Namek… the other one is from… _ Setsuna's mind raced. She knew who he was but she didn't know why he would be here of all places unless something was wrong.

The scout of Pluto looked at Rei, remembering the vision the woman had mentioned. "Rei, would you like to come with me? I need to go get something." Setsuna smiled at her friend.

"Uh, sure." Rei was thrown off by the sudden request but agreed regardless.

The two scouts of Mars and Pluto exited the main arena and walked until Setsuna was sure that there were no people watching. She stopped along the paved path and turned to face Rei.

"That vision you had… I think it will come to pass." Setsuna told her bluntly with a worried tone.

"You know something about it?"

"One of the fighters that just entered the ring, he is a very high ranking being in the galaxy. Shin wouldn't come to Earth unless he had a reason to believe that something is about to happen." Setsuna told her.

"You know him?"

"Not exactly. I just know of him. And I recognize his energy signal." The scout told her comrade, "And the previous queen once told me of the Kais. They are a strong people, also in charge of doing what they can to protect the universe. Shin is a Kai… but I have no idea what he could be doing here."

"I think we should look into this." Rei nodded her head, knowing that Setsuna was about to suggest that herself.

"He has a companion here, in the room that the competitors wait in."

Both women knew what to do. They transformed after years of peace. Rei now wore her Eternal Sailor Mars uniform and Setsuna was in her Eternal Sailor Pluto uniform. They nodded once more and rushed to where the fighters waited their turns patiently.

As they approached the door, they slowed their pace. Goku turned to look at the two ladies as he felt someone entering the room. He stared at them for a moment and then looked to Rini. He realized that the uniforms were very similar.

"Hey, Ri- Mini Moon, their outfits look a lot like yours." Goku said to the pink-haired girl who stood next to Gohan. Rini turned her attention away from the ring where Piccolo and Shin currently held a stare down. She saw Mars and Pluto and wondered why they had transformed. They walked up to the princess as calmly as possible so they didn't worry the girl.

"What's going on? Why are you transformed?" Rini asked them in a toned that wasn't quite a whisper but also couldn't be heard more than 10 feet away.

"Don't worry, Mini Moon. We just transformed so we could be a bit discrete back here. And we needed to talk to somebody." Rei told her.

"Who would you need to talk to back here?" Rini wondered.

"Small Lady," Pluto spoke up, "Please, don't worry yourself." The green-haired woman smiled warmly at her princess and then looked at the tall pink man who was watching their group intently. "Kibito, might I speak to you for a moment?"

Kibito looked at her a moment, sizing her up, and then nodded without a word. The two left the room through the back door and left the others curious.

"Mars, what is she talking to him about?" Rini wanted to know.

"I couldn't say for sure. She thinks he might know something important."

"Something important?" Rini trailed off with many more questions on her mind than before.

"Um, Mini Moon, who are your friends?" Gohan finally spoke up after a minute of silence had filled the air.

"Oh, this is Sailor Mars and the other one who is talking to Kibito is Pluto. They both worked with my mom."

"Princess, I think you could muster a better introduction than that." Mars smiled at the younger girl and then up at Gohan. She held out a gloved hand to shake Gohan's. "I'm Sailor Mars, fire guardian to the royal family of the Moon. Nice to meet you… Saiyaman, was it?"

"Ah, yeah. Nice to meet you." Gohan shook her hand while he was taken aback by her smile. She was a very beautiful woman with her raven black hair.

"Kibito, I would like to ask you about why you and Shin are here." Pluto started. Kibito put up a hand to quiet her.

"Who are you, exactly?"

"Ah, forgive me." Setsuna smiled and reached to grasp the air. In her hand, her garnet rod appeared. "I am Sailor Pluto, guardian of the time gates and protector to the royal family of the Moon." The woman bowed gracefully and briefly.

"I see. What would you like to know?" Kibito sounded more respectful than before upon learning her title.

"You and Shin are here on Earth for a reason. What reason is that?"

"We are here to keep a horrible beast from awakening. And this tournament is where those who can lead us to it are residing." Kibito crossed his arms. "Do you know of the situation, Pluto?"

"I don't know specifics, but one of our scouts had a vision of what's to come. She fears that many people will die today. And you two being here as well… it seems to confirm our worries." She told him.

"Then you must help us. In order to find out the whereabouts of the monster, we require complete cooperation. One of the competitors, Gohan, has a substantial amount of energy and the lackeys of our enemy will likely try to steal it once he is convinced to bring it out. I would kindly request that you tell the scouts to stand back at that point."

"Gohan? You think they'll go after him?"

"I do." Kibito nodded, only to receive a saddened look from Setsuna. The woman looked past Kibito for a moment and toward her princess inside the building. Kibito saw this and put a hand on her shoulder. "He will be fine. They will not end his life."

"I can ask for their aid in your mission but promise me that you won't allow Gohan to die." Setsuna thought only of her princess's happiness at that moment.

"Yes. I promise you that Gohan will not die in the energy draining process." Kibito paused. "But if things do not go as planned, I cannot guarantee anyone's safety."

"Understood. Please, do your best." Setsuna nodded as she felt Kibito's hand lift off of her shoulder gently.

Back in the room, the fighters still waited for Piccolo's match to end. It was strange… Piccolo had been standing still the whole time, unable to concentrate on fighting. He was very unnerved by the vibes that Shin was putting out. Goku and the crew watched in interest. Well, most of the crew watched. There was also a show going on in the room.

"So you're the Great Saiyaman that works alongside our precious Mini Moon now?" Mars asked Gohan with a grin. He felt a bit flustered by the casual behavior the red scout was showing.

"I am, yes." Gohan answered as if he was being tested.

"And you also go to school with her?"

"How did you know that one?" Gohan sounded a little more alarmed.

"Saturn doesn't really keep secrets when it has to do with potentials." Rei giggled and shrugged lightly.

"Saturn…" Rini muttered.

"Potentials?" Gohan tilted his head at the way Rei had phrased her sentence. Gohan knew Saturn was Rini's friend, Hotaru. But he wondered if she'd been the one to call him a potential… and what exactly she meant by it.

"All of us think you two work well together, so don't ruin it. 'Kay?" Rei winked as if she was trying to hint to something bigger.

"Alright…" Gohan felt like he should be getting more of this than he was.

"Okay, Mars, that's enough." Rini poked her friend's shoulder to gather her attention.

"As you wish, Princess." Rei did a quick bow of the head and stepped toward Gohan. "However, might I ask a favor?"

"Yes?" Gohan wondered when this would end. He felt so confused by all of Rini's friends so far. The most of what he gathered from them was that they cared dearly for their princess and he was someone that they all wanted to meet and test for some reason.

"Could you tilt up your glasses for a sec? So that I can see your eyes."

"Mars… did V put you up to this?"

"No. I just want to see because she brought it up earlier."

"It's called a secret identity for a reason, you know…" Rini put her hands on her hips as she half-frowned at Rei.

"It's alright, _Princess_, they already know, right? It sounds like Saturn told all of the others." He didn't see any harm in trying her title just once to see how it rolled off the tongue.

"Sorry…" Rini told him. She blushed lightly at him using her title.

Gohan smiled and then beckoned Rei closer with a finger. He quickly glanced from side to side in order to make sure that nobody who was unaware was looking. He brought his sunglasses up to rest on his forehead for a few moments as Rei examined his face.

"You have very honest eyes, Gohan." Rei whispered his name at the end. "I trust you'll take good care of our princess?"

"Uh, sure. If she needs me to, I can do that." Gohan was still confused and oblivious to what was being implied. He put his sunglasses back down.

"Glad to hear that!" Setsuna exclaimed as she and Kibito re-entered the room. Kibito went back to standing alone at the edge of the room and Setsuna walked toward Rei.

"Princess, I believe your match is up next."

"Yes, that's right." Rini nodded, and then let her eyes pan to Spopovich and Yamu on the other side of the room. Both looked very angry still. This scared Rini a lot. She really got serious bad vibes from those guys. And she was paired up with the bigger one.

Setsuna followed the gaze of her princess and then smiled at the girl. "We'll be cheering for you. Please be careful and don't get overconfident." She turned her attention to Gohan. "And I trust you'll be cheering too?"

"Oh, yeah!" Gohan nodded enthusiastically.

"Well then, we'll head back to the stands for now. Do your best, everyone!" Setsuna smiled and waved as she led Mars out of the room.

_Is it just me, or was that the school nurse?_ Videl wondered as she watched the two scouts leave.

Once they were out of earshot of the fighters, Setsuna explained to Rei what Kibito had told her and she agreed to help if it meant protecting the planet. Though she was a bit paranoid about blindly following the words of a stranger.

Piccolo returned to the fighter's room after forfeiting his match. He hadn't done a thing but he wondered why he hadn't been able to. He knew Shin was a Kai, or at least he'd felt it. But that just brought up more questions instead of answering any. Shin stayed in the ring as the audience was torn between cheering and being confused.

Goku and the others wondered if Piccolo was okay and started checking on him, asking how he was and all that. He insisted that he was fine and then became very quiet and thoughtful.

"Alright, time to bring out the next combatants! Can I get Mini Moon and Spopovich out here, please?" The announcer shouted into the microphone. The audience cheered loudly for Mini Moon. She felt a bit embarrassed as she heard her name. Spopovich rose from his place on the floor of the waiting room and walked through the door. Rini headed for the doorway to the ring as well, but Gohan stopped her for a moment; his were cheeks the lightest shade of pink.

"Do your best, okay?"

"I will." Rini smiled at him. Her smile still dazzled him so he took a few moments before speaking again.

"If he gives you any trouble…" Gohan didn't want to directly tell her to quit, but he wished he could. "Just… be careful." He scratched the back of the turban on his head.

"Don't worry so much, I want to have a match with you next afterwards, so I'll have a goal to work for." Rini winked at Gohan, knowing he didn't get that she was calling Gohan the overall goal. As far as he knew, she only wanted a friendly match.

"Yeah, right." Gohan thought a match with Rini would be fun. He nodded with a small trace of pink still adorning his cheeks.

Rini then walked out to the ring a few yards behind Spopovich. Shin was now heading back to the room to wait for what would happen next. There was a fraction of a second where the air became tense between him and Spopovich. Rini felt it from where she was on the walkway. Shin must've noticed because he looked at her next. His face looked a bit surprised as if he'd learned something important about her just then. He kept walking and made his way back to the fighter room.

Once both competitors were standing in the ring, the announcer began to introduce them to the audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud to introduce Sailor Mini Moon! She's recently made a name for herself helping Saiyaman and Videl to decrease the crime in West City. The movie about the heroes is currently in production. And rumors say that she is daughter to urban legend, Sailor Moon! Let's hear it for Mini Moon!" The audience cheered loudly as he got the pumped up. Rini was blushing with so much support.

"And let's not forget about Spopovich! He's a veteran in the tournament, having entered a number of times in the past. He has as good a chance of winning this as Mini Moon at this point." He gave both competitors a moment of the crowd and then decided it was time to start the match.

"Are both fighters ready?" He glanced from one to the other, receiving a nod from Rini and growl of acknowledgement from Spopovich. "Then let's get this match started! Mini Moon versus Spopovich!"

Piccolo walked up to Shin as the smaller man came back into the room. He was quietly contemplating how sure he was that Shin was who he thought he was. He looked Shin directly in the eyes as he broke the silence. "Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but are you- are you the Grand Kai?"

"Sorry, no, I'm not." Shin told him plainly and politely. Kibito appeared behind Piccolo, a towering giant. The Namek adverted his gaze to Kibito.

"I'll tell you who he is; he's the Supreme Kai."

Piccolo's jaw dropped a tad in shock. He looked from Kibito to Shin. "Supreme Kai?"

"Keep that information to yourself, please. I don't want the others to know just yet. Enjoy the competition." Shin requested and then walked by Piccolo. Kibito fell into step with Shin and the two walked out of the room again.

Rini used a moment of time to look Spopovich in the eyes from across the ring and then leapt into action. She ran at him and launched into a flying sidekick that landed right on her opponent's chest. She'd been hoping to knock him over, but he had extremely solid footing, so the girl instead used that solidity to push off of him and do a back flip. She landed gracefully and rushed him again with a series of punches to his gut. This didn't seem to be working either. And what was worse, Rini noticed, was that the guy wasn't even trying to dodge or block anything.

_There's no way my hits are that soft!_

She did a slight fade step back and dropped to sweep the large man. She did it! His feet fell out from under him and he started to fall. Before he even touched the ground, Rini managed to turn herself around and back up to her full height, and then drop an axe kick on the man's torso. The technique slammed him into the stone tiles of the ring flooring.

The announcer had been commentating the whole time, providing play-by-play information for the audience. "Spopovich is down! And it looks like he's down for good! I'll start the count." However, just as the sentence was out, Spopovich began to get back to his feet.

The angered man launched himself at Rini, throwing a flurry of punches. She quickly did what she could to block and avoid his strikes, knowing she would have bruised arms later on. She kept blocking and dodging the barrage of techniques until she saw an opening and launched a roundhouse kick to his head. The man felt the force behind the kick as he took a reactionary step back from the kick. He paused for a moment as he collected himself. Rini watched him carefully.

Spopovich ran at the girl like a wild bull and didn't look like he was going to stop. Rini quickly did a side step and then used her footwork to get into a position for a hip throw. She threw Spopovich to the ground once again. He stayed down for a few seconds as Rini caught her breath and then he was up again!

_Why won't you stay down? _Rini wondered this nervously. This man was very resilient to her attacks and it didn't make sense. Any normal human would've given in at the axe kick to the torso.

"Something's not right about that man." Darien observed from his seat. Serena looked at her husband. She agreed. The endurance of the man, even if he was a veteran, was not exactly the human standard. Rini was serious with each strike and had hit spot on.

From a few rows back, Setsuna and Rei looked at the postures of their king and queen. They could tell there was great concern present in both of them. The two exchanged glances. They had already told the rest of the scouts of what was to come with Shin and Kibito's plan to trail the henchmen to this expected disaster. Hotaru was also getting a bit antsy. She expected Rini to be hit and had prepared herself for it, but she was hardly prepared for the opponent to be a tank like this man. The desperation Hotaru felt slowly began to grow, though she did what she could to keep it from showing. The asteroid scouts also picked up on the oddity that was Spopovich. They weren't quite as concerned, but they were a bit confused.

"Damn it, come on, Rini…" Hotaru muttered while gritting her teeth.

Gohan watched the fight unfolding before him. He was pretty impressed with Rini's moves even if she was less experienced with hand-to-hand combat than most of the people he knew. He didn't think it was too weird that Spopovich was getting up; he'd seen humans be that strong before. Maybe it was just more common than he'd thought.

Goku peeked over Gohan's shoulder and seemed to pick up on something. He exchanged a glance with Vegeta and then looked back to the fight. _ This isn't going to end well…_

Rini and Spopovich continued to exchange punches and kicks in a flurry of movement. But neither seemed to be coming out on top. Rini was feeling the fatigue get to her fast as she managed to get another big kick into her opponent's rib cage. She could've sworn she'd heard a loud cracking noise as the impact was made. Then man grimaced and held his ribs for a moment before looking back at her.

His eyes were filled with rage. This wasn't just the conventional 'You hit me!' rage, it was like a wild animal that was angry at you for being nearby. She felt the cold from his glare and a shiver climbed her spine. He ran at her much faster than before. She couldn't keep up with him!

A swift kick to her head sent the girl flying backwards in addition to knocking her mask off. She was going toward the edge of the ring! _I guess there's no choice._ Rini quickly focused her mind and caught herself in midair before she hit the ground and then rose back up to the ring. She landed lightly back in the ring, her eyes narrowed angrily at this man. Her chin was already bruised over and her neck hurt too, but she wasn't about to give in.

She waited for him to move. She thought that if she could be patient enough, she could counter effectively. Something Haruka had taught her was that if you waited long enough, your opponent was bound to make a mistake; no matter how miniscule that mistake was, if you could use it to your advantage, it could tip the odds in your favor.

Spopovich charged. He threw a mighty punch and Rini stepped inside his guard to avoid and then grabbed his forearm while floating a few feet above the ground so that her shoulder could act as a fulcrum. She heard his arm crack very loudly in that moment and then followed with a shoulder throw. On the landing, Spopovich hit his head and his neck must've snapped as well, because Rini and the announcer both heard a sickening crunch.

"Oh my…" The announcer said into the microphone, dazed for a moment. The he stared at Spopovich's form lying on the ground. There was an unnatural bend in the large man's neck as well as his right arm. "It appears that… Spopovich has been permanently incapacitated… As rules say, if one combatant kills another then that person is disqualified."

Rini stared at the man in utter terror. Falling to her knees, her eyes were wide. She'd just killed someone? There's no way! He was so resilient beforehand. _How could I have…? _ Her eyes began to well up and tears would have fallen if Spopovich's body hadn't started to move again. First, his arm contorted back to normal. He slowly stood up and the man's arms reached for his head. He started cracking his neck every which way and then stretched it as far as it could. Once he released his head, he seemed perfectly fine once again. He had a furious look on his face as he roared.

Rini wasn't sure what to do. She was still in shock as Spopovich ran over to her and kicked her side at an angle that sent her flying into the air. Rini managed to catch and suspend herself for a moment. And everyone thought she was safe in the air… until Spopovich leapt at her. He could fly too! This wouldn't be good.

"He can fly?" Gohan was very worried about Rini now. He knew he couldn't help her unless he planned to get both of them disqualified. And they'd worked so hard for this together. She wouldn't want to waste all the lessons… but what was he supposed to do? If she got beat to a pulp, he would never forgive himself.

Goku saw his son's distress and put a hand on his shoulder. "Gohan, calm down. Don't do anything rash." He didn't want his son rushing in there without knowing what he was going up against.

Videl watched the fight with great concern for Rini as well. "Damn! She's doing what she can but that guy… that monster is taking her hits like a tank and just playing around."

Rini was attacked from above by the airborne Spopovich. He sent her rocketing to the arena floor. The impact caused a number of the tiles to shatter and a small crater outlined her body as she lied face down. The girl used a considerable amount of what strength was left in her body and pushed up to her knees. Her legs were now all scratched with bits of the stone tiles embedded in her knees. She had trace amounts of blood on her body and her uniform had torn here and there.

Spopovich suddenly dove down on top of her leading with his knee, pushing her back down into the crater face first. Rini's didn't even bounce, but instead, was limp. She could feel consciousness slipping away until her opponent began to repeatedly punch her back. She felt a new wound forming with each hit and with each hit, the crater was getting deeper. He then stopped. Rini felt a small wave of relief, though it was very brief. He reached down and grabbed her by the hair, as her buns were coming undone from being beaten all over.

Rini didn't mean to, but a gasp of pain escaped her mouth. He held her suspended by her hair with his left hand and then took his hand to her face. The size of his hand made it easy for him to grasp her head and he started squeezing very tightly. After moments of this, he released her hair and shoved her back to the ground with his right hand still firmly squeezing her head. She was lying still on her back. She couldn't even feel the pain anymore. Or maybe she just felt so much that her body could no longer tell the difference.

"Spopovich, that's enough!" Even the announcer had seen too much gruesome action at this point and he hoped that the man would release Mini Moon and let her lose.

The man ignored the announcer's demand. "She's still in the ring." With those words, Spopovich stepped on Rini's rib cage. He ground his foot against her ribs roughly enough to renew her sense of pain but not enough to completely break her yet. A deafening crack was heard and Rini couldn't keep herself from yelping in pain. She felt as though one of the ribs he'd just broken had pierced some tissues in her body.

Rini gagged up some blood, much to Spopovich's twisted delight. He smirked as he knelt over and grabbed her left forearm. He then lifted her overhead and brought her back down, smashing her into the ground once more. At this point, Rini knew her face was covered in a coat of blood. As for the question of how much, many droplets had flown off of her and landed a few feet away. Once Spopovich had flipped her over, he stepped on her left arm and bent over to get leverage before he came back up and snapped the bone. Rini screamed this time, but it was a very dry scream. Her voice was almost gone and her throat felt raw.

He looked down at her mangled arm and then his eyes panned to her bloodied face and then to her broken ribs. He stomped once more on her abdomen, prompting her to cough up more blood.

"That's it! I can't hold back anymore!" Gohan had been trying not to lose control the whole time. He'd really hoped that Rini would be able to fight back. But the last few minutes had been torture for her and for him. He was starting to glow. His turban was whisked off his head and his cape flew off his shoulders. The sheer power radiating around him caused such a strong wind that Krillin's hair was blowing around about six feet away. Goku knew his son wouldn't be stopped.

"Rini!" Gohan shouted as he started toward the ring in super Saiyan mode. He would help her no matter what the consequences were at this point. The rage had boiled over and Spopovich would quit one way or another.

_**A/N: I felt that this would be a good place to end the chapter. I really could've been more grisly with the details… but I didn't feel that I needed to imagine it since I'll be going to sleep after I post this. I would normally say that I hope you all enjoyed reading this… but I kind of hope that you didn't like what was happening for most of it. I do hope you appreciated the way I presented it, however. If that makes sense. Anyway, please keep up with the reading and reviewing. **_

_**EDIT**__**: I added a few more paragraphs the morning after the original post based on some reviews that requested a little more um, "gore." I am trying to keep the T-rating, so I don't feel I can go much further into detail with blood or punctures of bone through skin and such… That's about it.**_


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

_**A/N: For those of you who read the previous chapter right away after I posted it (thanks for the quick reviews!), I went back and edited it a bit. The differences (other than catching a few grammar mistakes) are adding a few lines earlier in the match and adding about two more paragraphs of beating up on Rini. Her arm is now broken and she's probably suffering from more internal bleeding as well. That is all. Now forward with the story!**_

Gohan flew out of the fighter room in super Saiyan mode, his anger boiling over at seeing Rini hurt so badly. He was about halfway to the ring when he heard a voice shout very loudly toward Spopovich.

"That's enough! Stop playing games, Spopovich!" It was Yamu who had shouted this. He was perched on the roof over the waiting room. The man hopped down and landed lightly on the grass outside the ring. The order from his own comrade had Spopovich frozen, as well as Gohan. "Don't you remember that we have far more important things to do? Finish it right now!"

The big man frowned at his companion. Yamu kept his eyes glaring daggers at Spopovich. Then Yamu lifted his hand and pointed toward the audience.

Where Yamu pointed, there were angry-looking sailor scouts standing in a line. Each was ready to unleash a fierce attack. Mars had her flame sniper aimed directly at Spopovich, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter and Neptune all had their attacks ready to throw if they decided to. The asteroid scouts each had their respectively colored orb glowing, waiting for the command. Saturn, Pluto and Uranus weren't with the other scouts, but down on the opposite side of the ring from Yamu, in the grass. Saturn's glaive shone in the sunlight, as did Uranus's sword. Pluto, too, had her weapon out. From her seat, anyone who was aware of energies and could see them, the queen of these warriors stood up with a fierce aura radiating around her. Her blue eyes were narrowed at the man who had harmed her daughter. The power behind that stare was surprisingly intimidating. As was the icy stare of the man standing next to her.

Gohan's eyes had followed Yamu's pointing. He was relieved to see that they were all ready to help as well.

Spopovich reluctantly obeyed with a disappointed moan. He shoved Rini to the edge of the ring with his foot and then rolled her over the edge. The two foot drop to ground hurt the girl just a bit more. But it was over.

"It's over! Mini Moon is out of the ring!" The announcer felt that he ought to make the official call before anything changed.

Gohan powered down and rushed to the fallen solider. He lifted her body as gently as he could, looking down at her face and feeling responsible for not doing something to stop the torture sooner.

The announcer walked over to Gohan and the fallen Rini with a bit of concern. "Should I call a stretcher for her?"

"I'll take her to the infirmary myself." Gohan assured the announcer, kindly rejecting the offer for a stretcher. Right then, Pluto, Saturn and Uranus had joined his side. Uranus stepped between Spopovich and the princess in a protecting manner and didn't take her angry eyes off him for a fraction of a second.

"Small Lady…" Pluto muttered, looking at her princess. Rini was still breathing, but it was uneven and sounded like she was almost unable to breathe. Saturn looked at her best friend and then at Gohan, her eyes were cold. Gohan met her gaze with the sorriest expression he'd ever managed in his life. This softened her eyes only a little at first and then she looked up as Spopovich and Yamu began to walk away with chuckles.

"Spopovich!" Gohan shouted at the man to get his attention once more. The giant turned around to look at the young man; the ruffian smirked. Gohan was furious! "Your next match is me; and _I'll_ win!"

Spopovich just chuckled again and then he and Yamu left the main arena.

"Krillin, do you have any senzu beans?" Goku turned to his shorter friend. The two were looking out the doorway to the ring as the scene had taken place in front of them.

"Sorry, I don't. I didn't think I'd need any." Krillin admitted to his friend. He felt that he should've been better prepared, but also that nobody could've seen this coming.

"Alright, then I'll go get some!" Goku told him and put two fingers to his forehead to find the signal of his senzu-growing friend, Korin.

As Goku disappeared, Gohan entered the room, passing through on his way to the infirmary. He was followed by the three outer scouts who had joined his side earlier.

"Gohan, don't worry too much! Goku went to get some senzu beans to help fix her up!"

"He did? Alright! That's my dad!" Gohan smiled and then kept on his way with Rini in his arms. She was fading in and out of consciousness. His attention kept shifting between Rini and where he was treading. The scouts followed behind him.

Soon, the group arrived in the infirmary and Gohan gently placed Rini on the bed in the room they were led to by one of the tournament doctors. She was in her civilians clothes because she could no longer hold her transformation. He watched her face closely. She still felt immense pain, he knew.

After just minutes, Rini's parents and the group with them, no longer in uniform, walked in. However, the doctor asked that they visit in smaller groups because all of them in the room at once was a bit much. The quartet and the inner scouts, joined by Michiru, waited outside of the room. Only Gohan, Darien, Serena, Haruka, Hotaru and Setsuna were left in the room. Gohan felt worse about what had happened when he saw the king and queen examining their daughter. He stood off to the side of the room to give them some time with her. Hotaru held her best friend's hand and talked to her. Setsuna stood next to Hotaru, putting a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder.

"The scene is getting to you." Haruka observed Gohan from a seat next to him.

"Yeah… I feel horrible." Gohan stared at his feet, unable to meet Haruka's stern gaze.

"You should. You gave your word that you would protect her if she needed it." Haruka didn't hesitate in letting him know her feelings. She saw the young man flinch at her words and then stood up, looking down on him. "Look me in the eyes."

Gohan looked up at Haruka's eyes as she told him to and saw the rage she felt reflecting into his own eyes. He cringed once more only to have Haruka grip the neck of his Saiyaman costume. The Saiyan was taller than Haruka but he didn't try to struggle free.

"If you can't even face me with courage, how the hell are you supposed to protect _her_?" Haruka raised her voice a little unnecessarily. The others in the room stared at her for the sudden breaking of silence. "Well?"

Gohan didn't know what to say. He felt about as bad as he thought he ever had in his life. He cleared his throat briefly and nervously opened his mouth to speak. "I'm not sure what you want me to say. I'm as sorry as I have ever been and I regret not acting sooner. I really do care about her safety – a lot! … And if given the chance, I'll prove it."

"You had your chance!" Haruka was still furious. She was about to give him an earful about regret and not having second chances, but Setsuna made her way across the room to calm her.

"Sorry, Gohan. Haruka is very protective of the princess; she was just as bad when the queen was still just a princess." Setsuna shushed Haruka, who was about to object. The kind woman put a hand on Gohan's shoulder and gave him a smile. "I know you care about her as much as you say. And while I share your wishes about you acting earlier, we also could've done so. Our princess is very stubborn and she tries her best to be independent. We all worry about her when she takes on villains alone, but then you showed up at her side on the news and we were comforted again." Her words were soft and concise when she explained this to Gohan. He looked over at Rini as Setsuna spoke.

"We all were." Haruka agreed; her voice was suddenly much less livid than a minute ago.

"I see…" Gohan was relaxed a bit more now that Haruka's tone had softened. Silence fell in the room once more as Haruka exited the room to join the others in the hall. Setsuna followed the fiery-tempered blonde but paused a moment to look at Gohan with an encouraging smile.

Next was Hotaru's turn to approach Gohan, it seemed. The pale girl sat down in the chair next to Gohan and sighed heavily. She looked at him.

"I feel like I should be mad, but I can't bring myself to do it. Damn your nice-guy face…" Hotaru muttered the last part a bit more quietly than the rest. She avoided his curious expression and crossed her arms irritably. "There you go again, being all genuine. Gosh, how did she find one like you?" She was making an effort to sound annoyed by the Saiyan.

"Uh, I'm sorry?" Gohan had no clue what he was apologizing for this time.

"Ugh, just stop tormenting me… It's hard enough already for me to try and find negatives about you to warn her about." Hotaru mumbled as she let her head fall back and her eyes focus on the ceiling. "Listen, Gohan, you are wonderful and virtually flawless when I consider all the things that a good guy should be."

"Gosh, thanks." Gohan blushed a bit at the high compliment.

"I wasn't done! Your being so nice is what bugs me. Being so strong, being that kind and even kind of cute… I see why Rini is drawn to you so much." Hotaru told him with a calm tone. "And that makes it hard for me, as the best friend, to want to protect her from you. But I'm thinking that I may not have to."

"Why did you think you'd have to? I won't do anything bad." Gohan asked the girl. He still didn't quite get what Hotaru meant about protecting her from him. He wasn't a bad guy or anything. Then it crossed his mind; did she mean that she was worried that he might not always treat Rini well? Before he could ask, Krillin opened the door a crack and asked to come in.

"Sure, Krillin, was it?" Darien answered and nodded, allowing Krillin in the room. The king had begun using his medical knowledge to do what he could for his daughter. He'd provided a splint for her arm and applied some of his healing powers to slow the internal bleeding. He'd also done what he could in closing the open wounds. But he couldn't completely heal her injuries, much to his unhappiness.

"Any word from my dad on those senzu beans yet?" Gohan asked his short friend. Krillin shook his head regretfully.

"I have no clue what could be taking him so long. You'd think a man with the ability to teleport would've been back by now."

"Isn't your match starting soon?" the queen looked at Gohan with a sudden curiosity. "Your mother seems to be eager for you to win; I wouldn't want to have you miss your match because you're worried about Rini…"

"But…" Gohan started. He took in the scene for a moment longer. His eyes stopped on Rini. Her pink hair was no longer in the buns and her eyes were still closed. She seemed to be a little better, but still in pain. Her hands clenched the bed sheets. "I'm going to go talk to the announcer. Maybe he can give me a little more time. At least until my dad gets back!" Gohan rushed out of the room, sunglasses down, determined. Krillin stayed, absorbing Gohan's words.

After a few moments, Palla Palla and Vesu Vesu walked in. Both looked at their princess before taking in the surrounding people.

"What was he all fired up about?" Palla Palla hadn't directed her question at anyone in particular.

"He's got it bad for her, huh?" Krillin asked Hotaru with a grin.

"You have no idea… And I'm not so sure does either." Hotaru let a small giggle escape her lips.

"He'll come around. Now, if you'll all excuse me, I'm going back to wait for Goku, too." Krillin bowed his head quickly and politely before jogging after Gohan.

"Next fighters out, please!" The announcer called into the microphone. He'd waited a good amount of time to make sure that Mini Moon was alright and reassured the audience of her predicted recovery. "In this match, Kibito will battle against the-"

"Uh, excuse me, could I have a little more time please?" Gohan had made it to the announcer just in time. "You see, my dad went to get some medicine to help Mini Moon recover but he isn't back yet. I'd like to make sure she gets it before I start the match." Gohan gestured as he spoke.

"It's for Mini Moon? Yeah, then take all the time you need. She is a lovely heroine."

"Thank you very much." Gohan was relieved and he turned to go back to waiting for Goku.

"Folks, please sit tight. The next match has been delayed." The announcer informed the crowd that they would have to wait a little while longer.

A few more minutes passed as the group of Z-fighters awaited Goku's return. Suddenly, each felt his presence, followed by him materializing into the room.

"You're back! Did you get the senzu beans?" Gohan was eager to get Rini back to full health and move on with his match.

"I sure did. Yajirobi and Korin only had 3 left. They're all yours if you want them." Goku smiled; he had a few food crumbs on his lips. Would he really have eaten food with such a pressing matter to handle? … Of course he would.

"You bet I do!"

"Then you better get these to Rini." Goku said to his son and dumped the 3 beans from the bag and into his hand. He then handed the beans to Gohan and the boy ran off to the infirmary.

"Ah, you're back!" Many of the scouts said this together as Gohan ran through them and into the room once again. He saw that Rini had woken up and her parents still stood at her bedside. A woman with dark blue hair was at Rini's side as well. She'd been in a blue scout uniform earlier. Gohan didn't know her name, but he guessed that her occupation was a doctor like Darien's. She was observing Rini's body and trying to figure out what else she could do for the princess. Hotaru and the quartet sat off to the side in chairs or on the floor looking forlorn and like them felt responsible as Rini's personal guards for not acting.

"I have senzu beans." Gohan spoke up behind the group. They all looked at him and the blue-haired woman held out a hand.

"I'd like to look at one, please."

Gohan handed her a senzu bean and watched her as she took out a mini computer. The device shot out a blue scanning laser over the whole bean and then beeped a bit. The woman read the screen and then nodded at the king and queen.

"This bean contains remarkable substances that should instantly heal up just about any wound." She handed the bean to Darien and he gently lowered it to his daughter's mouth.

"Amy, you're sure it will work? Even Darien's healing didn't do the job…" Serena was still concerned.

"It'll work," Gohan assured them, "my friends and I have used these many times over the years. Senzu beans always work for us." His smile brought out hopeful and grateful smiles from everyone in the room. The other scouts were peeking in the doorway at that moment and focused on the princess as she crunched on the bean.

Rini swallowed the senzu bean after a few moments of crunching and the effect was almost immediate. She sat upright on her own with no pain. "I'm better?" Rini lifted her arms and looked at where the scratches and bumps used to be. Now her arms were just normal, uninjured and smooth. She brought her feet to the side of the bed and paused a moment before standing and putting weight on her legs. It was true! She could walk!

"Gohan… this is wonderful. Thank you!" Rini smiled at him very happily. He responded with a nod and a smile back at her.

"You don't need to thank me…" He still felt like the whole ordeal had been his fault.

"But I do. You didn't step in to help me because you believed that I would be able to protect myself… I wouldn't have wanted anyone to step in even if it was you. I'm a bit stubborn, as I'm sure you figured out." Rini's eyes avoided looking directly into Gohan's as she admitted this sheepishly. "And after I worried everyone by taking on way more than I could handle, you came through and got a hold of something to heal me up lickety-split. So, yes, I'd like to thank you."

"Ah… alright then." Gohan didn't feel it would be right to refuse her gratitude. But he did think he didn't deserve it. Regardless, he smiled at her, just happy to see she was okay again. She returned his smile with a shining display of her own teeth. With her hair down, it was almost like seeing her smile for the first time again. He wasn't used to her locks being let down from the buns. For a moment, he was dazzled. But then he remembered that they were being watched closely by the others and he pulled himself out of the spell.

"Isn't your match next?" Rini asked, once she thought of it.

"Oh yeah! I'd better go do that!" Gohan laughed nervously and turned to leave the room. Rini's voice caused him to pause though.

"I'll be out there to watch once I clean up a bit and suit up into scout mode." Rini told him. In a way, it was like saying she would be there to support him and cheer him on. He was happy that she wanted to be there.

"Alright, I'll do my best for you." Gohan nodded once more and then left the room in a bit of a rush. He didn't want to keep the audience waiting much longer.

The scouts looked at their princess, each face covered with a sly grin that teased her. Even her mother had a teasing smile. But Darien sat on the edge of the bed looking a bit forlorn. His little girl was growing up and winning over hearts already. What had happened to the adorable little girl who used to argue with her mother over who got to hold daddy's hand when they walked through the park? The pink-haired cherub who had thought that boys were gross? She was getting more mature and more interested in Gohan.

"Rini, I think you have yourself a lovely young man." Lita said this with a golf clap as if to applaud the words she stated so plainly. The other girls joined in with the applause as Rini's face reddened.

"Oh, you guys…"

"Ladies and gentlemen, so sorry to keep you waiting. Now, let's get started!" The announcer began after he'd seen Saiyaman give an thumbs up from the fighter's waiting room doorway. "Here we go with the fourth match of the competition: Kibito versus the Great Saiyaman!" Both combatants walked up to the ring ready to begin their fight.

From the sidelines, everyone watched with great anticipation. They would finally see this Kibito guy in action. Shin, also looking on with much interest, looked like he was waiting for something very critical to take place in this next match.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I've been busy lately but I thank you all for your patience! You guys are the best! **

Rini had just finished cleaning up in the ladies locker room and was drying her cotton candy pink hair with a large towel. Hotaru and Rei sat near their princess on backless benches (I don't know what else to call them but I know what they look like!) and waited for her to finish. They didn't feel it would be wise to leave her alone even if she was healed and it would've been only the five minutes spent washing the blood off.

"Princess," Rei stood up as she spoke, "Please, allow me." Rei gently gripped a bunch of Rini's hair with one hand and held it a few inches from her other hand. A faint red light began to emanate from her palm and Rei began moving her hand around in motions similar to how one would move a hair dryer.

"Thanks, Rei." Rini smiled at her friend and guardian. Rei's fire power would certainly speed up the drying process.

"I should ask you to do that for me sometime," Hotaru mused with a grin toward the fire scout. The three ladies shared a laugh and then it went quiet. But it wasn't an awkward silence. It was an airy atmosphere that felt light and happy. Rini was very glad to be around her dear friends again. As much as she didn't want to admit it out loud, she knew that she depended on them a lot. Seeing them ready to spring into action earlier had opened her eyes to just how much she might need a team after all.

The smile on Rini's face fell to a thoughtful half-frown. The scouts noticed and looked at one another briefly before Hotaru cleared her throat.

"Rini, listen. I know you want to be as strong as your mom, we all do, but it will take some time. And even at her strongest she always chose to fight with us at her side when she could."

"She would always outshine us, too." Rei added her two cents with a warm smile as she was finishing up drying Rini's hair. She casually continued by putting Rini's hair up in her trademark buns. Rini watched in a large mirror on the wall.

As Rei finished her hair, the other scouts walked in. Serena walked at the front of the group. "Rini," Serena said her daughter's name as she hugged her, "I was worried about you. I'm so relieved you're okay." Her mother's voice sounded troubled and trembled a smidge.

"Aw, Mom…" Rini returned her mother's hug and then looked at the scouts as they smiled at the scene. Feeling a bit flustered, Rini smiled at them. "I guess I ought to go back out there, huh? I want to watch Gohan's match." Rini threw her hand above her head to transform, but was stopped before she said anything.

"Hold on, Rini." Serena told her gently as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "We wanted to grant you a little gift before you went back out." The queen looked at the group of scouts and they all circled the two royals and held hands.

"What's going on?" Rini asked as her eyes panned the circle of her friends. They weren't transformed but their foreheads started glowing with their astrological symbols. Without answering, Serena also closed her eyes and her crescent moon appeared and started to glow.

And in just a moment, Rini was wrapped in light. She felt great warmth from the light and, when she felt it slowly waning, she looked down at herself. She was Mini Moon! But her uniform looked different. The sleeves flared out a bit more and her skirt (formerly pink) was now white with a gold and pink lining along the bottom. Her collar now had gold thread along the edges; her choker had a crescent moon adorning the front, as did her boots. Her brooch was now heart-shaped and an extra heart was at her belt level. She even felt extra little hair accessories and the new bow on the back of her uniform brushing against the back of her legs lightly. She materialized her mask and placed it over her eyes to complete the look.

"We wanted to give you a bit of a power up, Small Lady." Setsuna explained as the princess marveled at the new look.

"So congrats to you! You're now a _super_ sailor scout!" Mina winked at the girl.

"Oh… wow, thanks, everyone." Rini said with excited eyes admiring the new look.

"No need to thank us, we're just doing our duty. If you want to try more solo missions, the least we can do is offer up a little strength until we can be there." Jun Jun acted like it was no big deal.

"I'm still hoping you and Gohan decide to stay partners and then he can keep up the good job of giving us less to worry about." Cere Cere giggled after saying that. Lita agreed with the asteroid scout.

"It's such a stress reliever; you have no idea!" Palla Palla nodded.

The scouts shared a brief few moments of laughter and then Rini was allowed to leave the room. The scouts headed back towards their seats in the audience and Rini went to where Goku and the others watched in the waiting room by the ring.

"I still think he looks like someone…" Erasa said to Sharpner and another classmate as they watched Gohan and Kibito enter the ring.

"Yeah, he looks like Gohan, yeah." The other guy said this as he was peeking through binoculars. Their seat was pretty far back in the crowd so binoculars were actually a great idea.

"Come on, let me take a look!" Sharpner snatched the binoculars from his friend and took a look.

"Yeah, He's got the same haircut. I was noticing it through the binoculars but I can't anymore because you took them… I would like them back." He said this as Sharpner looked. Saiyaman hadn't put his turban back on after losing it earlier during Mini's Moon match.

"It is Gohan! How could I have missed it? It's been him all along!" Sharpner had been trying to figure out who Saiyaman was for a little while now because since he'd worked with Videl in saving the city. Ever since he started working with Mini Moon, though, he had felt a tad bit less jealous and almost abandoned the effort.

Gohan? No way? If it is him, I bet he just signed up in secret and borrowed Saiyaman's name." Erasa guessed.

"Erasa, why would he do that?" Sharpner was almost in disbelief.

"Because he's shy!" She smiled, feeling as if she had guessed right.

If he's not Saiyaman, then he's about to be in big trouble." Sharpner didn't think their nerdy classmate, Gohan, Mister Perfect Test Score, would be that good at fighting if he wasn't Saiyaman.

Nothing fixes trouble like cheering. Let's all yell!" They all decided this was a good idea.

"Go, Gohan! Yeah!"

In the ring, Gohan stiffened at hearing his name from the audience. He was in disguise as Saiyaman, who was shouting his name? He looked toward the source of the shouting and was able to make out some of his classmates cheering for him.

_How did they-? I guess it's not good without the covering on my head. Guess I don't need these shades anymore…_ He took off his sunglasses and tossed them aside. He nervously grinned and waved up at them.

"Yeah, now we can see your face!" Erasa shouted back to him in response.

"Well, I'm sure our two fierce competitors are ready to lock horns at any moment! Come on, guys, we're waiting!" The Announcer said this into the microphone.

Gohan nodded and turned his attention back to Kibito. As he sized him up, he wondered about how strong Kibito would be. The tall man didn't exactly look like a pushover.

"Gohan, I'm curious to see your super Saiyan powers, show them to me! We may be able to use them." Kibito said to him.

"Hey!" Goku greeted Rini with a smile. "You feel better now?"

"I do, thank you so much Goku. I'm told you were the one who brought those beans here." Rini smiled back at the man.

"Yeah…" Goku's smile turned goofy as he acted sheepish, like she gave him too much credit. "Well, I couldn't let a nice girl like you stay injured and all. Besides, Gohan seems to care a lot about you and he'd never let me hear the end of it if I did nothing." He winked. He would've helped even if Gohan and Rini were strangers, everyone in earshot knew that. Goku then blinked as he looked over Rini. "Hey, wasn't your outfit different before? I mean, yeah, it got all torn up… but it was my understanding that it came from your powers."

"The scouts shared some of their powers with me to give me a bit of an upgrade." She explained. "Now I'm the level of _super _sailor scout." A bragging tone escaped her briefly, only to hear Vegeta scoffing behind her. She chose to ignore it for now. "Oh, that's right! Has the match started yet?" Rini asked in a rush as she dashed to the doorway to peek out at the ring.

"Just starting. Kibito's been saying something to Gohan the whole time. Not sure what though…" Goku told her and then turned to Piccolo knowing the Namekian was likely listening in on the conversation. "What are they talking about?"

"Kibito wants him to go super Saiyan."

"What?" Krillin and Rini looked shocked that someone would request that. Shin stood behind them, watching with an intense gaze in his eyes.

"How do you know I'm a super Saiyan? And what do you mean you may be to use them?" Gohan was surprised. Just how many secrets of his were going to be revealed?

"You'll know more in time. Show them to me now!" Kibito sounded very commanding.

"Is this some joke? I'm not going to transform out here in front of all these people!" Gohan refused.

Of to the side of the ring, Yamu and Spopovitch were watching and waiting, paying close attention to a small meter Spopovitch was holding.

"Spopovitch, what's it say?"

"It's not them; no energy."

Gohan continued to stare Kibito down when Piccolo called his name from the doorway where his friends watched.

"Gohan!"

The young man looked up instantly when he heard Piccolo. He made eye contact with him and saw his friend nod. He took a fraction of a second to consider it, but then figured that if Piccolo, who had been so intimidated by Shin, thought he should then it was a valid reason.

"Okay, here it goes…" Gohan began powering up and Kibito stood by allow him to do so.

"It's time." Shin said behind the group. They all turned to look at the small man. "You do not need to worry about Gohan. He will be fine. But no matter what happens, I want you to promise me you will stay out of the ring."

"What?" Rini questioned Shin. The fact that he requested them not go in the ring made it sound like Gohan might need them.

"No way!" Krillin answered right away.

"What do you want with Gohan?" Goku asked Shin.

"He wants to see his power." Piccolo told them solemnly while looking at Gohan and Kibito. Rini, too, looked at Gohan.

"I don't know who you are and you're telling _me_ what to do! Who do you think you are?" Vegeta spoke up at last in objection to Shin's instruction.

"Vegeta, show some respect! That is no way to talk to the Supreme Kai!"

They all looked surprised by the news. Rini didn't know what a Kai was, not exactly. She'd heard mention of them somewhere before. From Setsuna?

"I've heard stories from King Kai, but I thought they were just stories! Shin, you're the Supreme Kai?" Goku recalled with shock. Then he looked back at the ring. Rini looked between the ring and Shin, not sure what was going on but also not liking the sounds of what would occur shortly.

The audience and fighters, everyone, looked on as Gohan powered up. They all felt the chills in the air as his energy resonated.

"Goku, I've got a bad feeling about this. I think Gohan's in trouble…" Krillin said as the intensity in the air became so thick he felt he could cut it with a destructo disk.

Shin stepped forward a little more, focused on the young Saiyan in the ring. "Listen, I'm certain the instant Gohan transforms, Spopovitch and Yamu will try to attack him. But as I've already told you, you must not help him."

Goku looked ready to ask him every question he could think of, but Krillin spoke up first.

"I don't know what you're after, but Gohan can take care of himself."

"Of course." Shin sounded like he wanted to believe that were true.

"What makes you so sure those two are going to attack Gohan?"

"Spopovitch and Yamu aren't yet aware of it, but Gohan is the one they're searching for. Don't worry. They don't want his life, only his energy."

"His energy?" Goku asked.

Rini worried, against Shin's request. She couldn't help it. She now knew something bad was going to happen… and to Gohan!

As Gohan released his power, the slabs of concrete used to make the ring rose up in their individual slabs and floated from the sheer strength of Gohan's aura. The wind around him blew ferociously and whipped Kibito's hair back. Gohan's hair was now gold and his eyes now a light hue of blue with a tint of green in them.

Gohan finished powering up to his maximum level and Kibito was in shock. He hadn't expected this much energy! The expression on Kibito's face didn't go unnoticed by Gohan. The young man smirked. The wind died down a smidge and the stone slabs fell back down to the ring exactly where they'd come up from.

"So, is this good enough for you?" He asked a bit smugly, enjoying the look of surprise on his opponent's face.

_What enormous energy… this is more than I expected. _Kibito was nervous.

"Yamu! Look at this!" Spopovitch showed the meter of the little device he held to his partner.

Yamu looked and he was in awe. The meter was close to going off-charts! He stared at Gohan, pleasantly surprised. "He's the one!" He told Spopovitch.

"Gohan had more energy when he fought Cell. Your son has grown soft in these times of peace, Kakarot." Vegeta evaluated Gohan's strength. Like always, he cared about the strength of his competition.

"He had more then?" Rini asked, amazed by the sensation she felt racking her body. She was fairly certain that what she felt was the pressure of Gohan's powers. It was intimidating but also, like Gohan, gave off a strange warmth. Krillin nodded in answer to her question, just slightly unsure.

"That may be true, but he's still the strongest one at this tournament. The only question is: will it be enough?" Shin told Vegeta.

"Enough for what?" Goku wanted to know, but Shin stared at Gohan in anticipation. Silence fell once more among the group as they all stared at what conspired before them.

"Are we going to fight? What are you waiting for? A written invitation?" Gohan asked, still a tad smug but more impatient. Kibito was the one who had asked him to transform and now he was silently waiting for something. But what?

"Let's get him! Make sure you hold on to him and don't let go!" Yamu instructed Spopovitch. Spopovitch nodded and the two leapt into action! They flew at Gohan.

"We have company!" Gohan sensed the two behind him easily as them charged but suddenly, he couldn't move.

Where Goku and Rini stood, with Shin and the others, Shin held out his arms in front of him with his fingers apart, shouting. He intended to freeze Gohan in place.

"What did you do?" Goku shouted.

Rini looked on as Gohan didn't budge. Yamu and Spopovitch caught him and took out a device (no idea where they were storing up until this point) that was round, with a hand on top and an 'M' insignia on the side. Part of the device extruded like the spout of a teapot, however, the end had a very sharp needle point. Spopovitch restrained Gohan as firmly as he could and Yamu stuck Gohan with the needle.

Gohan screamed in pain. He could feel himself weakening—fast! But he still couldn't move!

"They're killing him!" Goku said urgently.

"Trust me, he'll be fine." Shin was determined to wait this out. Goku, as much as he didn't like it, trusted the Kai.

Krillin tried to bolt forward, but Piccolo held him down. Krillin struggled, "Let me go!"

"I told you, you must stay back!" Shin reminded Krillin.

Rini was wide-eyed and frozen in place, scared for him.

"Make sure you get all of it, Yamu." Spopovitch laughed as he spoke to his partner. Yamu laughed as a reply and Kibito bit his lip. He knew Gohan was going through a lot of pain but he couldn't interfere if the mission was going to succeed. He stood back and watched the horror.

Gohan's energy was noticeably drained and his hair returned to its normal black. Rini finally lost it and hopped into the air to try flying in to save him shouting, "Gohan!" But Goku grabbed one of her arms and wouldn't let go. "Goku! Let go! Gohan needs help!" Rini struggled. Goku's grip didn't loosen in the least.

"He'll be okay."

"But-!" Rini objected as she was forced to put her feet back on the ground.

"Gohan is in no danger." Shin told Rini. He looked on, feeling remorse as he forced himself to watch the outcome of his decisions. "Calm down, Moon Princess."

Rini paused, surprised that Shin knew who she really was. But Gohan was more important than that. She looked at Shin, "Are you sure?"

Shin nodded, not taking his eyes away from the scene in front of them.

Rini put one of her hands over her heart and joined the others in watching and waiting. Each time Gohan let a scream escape, it pained her heart more and more to do nothing about it. _I'm sorry, Gohan… _She used all her control to keep her eyes from watering.

On top of a building, Mighty Mask AKA Trunks standing on Goten's shoulders in a silly costume, stood watching as well. They were unsure of what to do. The adults hadn't done anything yet either… but why?

"Gohan's in trouble!" Goten sounded worried.

"Why's nobody helping? Where's your dad?" Trunks wasn't so sure what do for that exact reason. Nobody else was helping.

"We gotta help him!" Goten started struggling under Trunks' weight in the costume. But because of the costume, he had issues getting out and just ended up struggling to the point where Trunks was being tossed around in the top half of it.

A bright flash of light emitted from the device Yamu and Spopovitch used to suck up Gohan's energy. "Now we have all the energy we need!" Yamu declared. "Let's go!"

With that, Spopovitch dropped Gohan and the two men flew off as fast as they could. Gohan trembled, his body feeling weak as he lie on the floor of the arena.

"Kibito will help Gohan, he doesn't need your assistance, so don't go move him." Shin told the group as he held an arm up as if to reinforce his wish of them not moving.

"What are you going to do?" Goku asked Shin.

"I'm going to find out where they're taking Gohan's power. I could use help, but I understand if you want to stay here." With no more words, Shin took a moment to silently reflect and then took to the air in pursuit of Yamu and Spopovitch.

Rini ran to Gohan since Goku was no longer holding her back. Her mask flew off at some point on the run and she didn't care. She reached Gohan and knelt beside him. A gentle hand brushed his face and she felt coldness. She looked up at Kibito, pleading with her eyes.

Back with Goku and the crew, Goku had decided that he wanted to help Shin in his mission. He truly believed the Kai and wanted to know what was going on. Krillin reluctantly agreed and went to tell his wife, Eighteen, that they would be going. Then Vegeta walked up to Goku and he didn't look very happy, not that he ever does.

"I know what you're doing, Kakarot! You're trying to skip out on our fight!"

"Not at all… it's just that, can't you see something more important is going on right now?" Goku tried to reason with his longtime rival and friend.

"After the next two matches, we're scheduled to fight," Vegeta grabbed hold of the front of Goku's shirt threateningly, "and you will fight me! If you leave, you'd better be back! I only entered this stupid tournament so I could beat you!"

"Okay, okay, calm down! I'll go help the Supreme Kai right now but I promise I'll put our fight at the top of my to-do list as soon as I'm back!" Goku assured Vegeta, putting his hands up, trying to excuse the matter with a wave of his hands.

"You forget that you can only remain on Earth for one day!" Vegeta pointed out. Clearly, his priorities were straight. And pummeling Goku was numero uno.

"Right… then why not come with me?"

Vegeta growled as if he wished to start fighting Goku right now.

"We're wasting too much time." Piccolo stated simply. Goku nodded, Vegeta growled and then Piccolo took to the air. Goku floated over to the ring, landed and looked from Gohan to Kibito.

Rini heard Goku land and looked at him as he spoke to Kibito. "Kibito, will you promise to take care of Gohan for me?"

"You have my word. And as soon as he is healed, I will follow after you. Gohan, I presume, will want to do the same." Kibito agreed to help the young Saiyan. Goku smiled and then took off. Vegeta grudgingly followed Goku and Piccolo at last.

"… And so you see, without my help, they're toast." Krillin had just finished explaining the situation to his wife in one of the participant areas.

"If your friends need you, then go." She said the words with a bit of a false front, trying to sound like she didn't care.

"Right! Well, good luck with your match! I'll see you when I get back!" Krillin lifted off the ground.

Before he zoomed off, Eighteen stopped him. "You be careful out there!" He chuckled and agreed, and then he was after his friends.

Back in the ring, Gohan noticed the others were leaving and mustered what atrength he had left to ask, "Where'd everybody go?"

"Quiet, you must stay still." Kibito told him gently.

"Gohan… Rini looked at him. She had never seen him look so weak. It was unsettling and it worried her to the point of tears. She'd allowed one or two to fall as she knelt by him.

Hotaru and the quartet (transformed) had just reached Rini's side in the ring while the queen and her scouts (not transformed) were calming down Chichi and her group, Setsuna taking the responsibility of explaining what had happened.

"Mini Moon, is he alright?" Cere Cere asked their princess.

"I don't know…" Rini answered between breaths.

"He will be fine." Kibito assured the girl and began healing Gohan. A golden aura came from Kibito's hand and surrounded Gohan as Kibito placed his hand on the boy's back.

Just then, two men on the tournament crew came in with a stretcher. They made it up to Kibito and company. "We'll take it from here!" One of them insisted on trying to move Gohan but before he even stepped forward, he was stopped.

"No, you won't." Jun Jun narrowed her eyes at the men in a scary fashion. The two men felt chills travel down their spines.

"But…" The other tried to object.

"No means no. We'll take care of him. You'd be smart to leave us now." Hotaru spoke now, even darker than Jun Jun had. The men felt the fear of Death itself gripping at their souls. They quickly scampered off with the stretcher.

Kibito finished healing Gohan about a minute later. The young man sat up, much to Rini's relief. "Gohan!"

"Hey." Gohan sounded sheepish as he saw Rini, but then he looked at her face and saw that she had tears in her eyes. "Rini… I'm fine, I swear! I feel great, actually!" He tried to cheer her up by exclaiming how he was fine now. She just smiled and hugged him, crying lightly into his chest.

Saturn, Ceres, Juno, Vesta, and Pallas looked at their princess hugging her 'potential' and they exchanged grins.

Rini finally calmed down and she and Gohan stood up now, Kibito had waited patiently at their side.

"Thank you, Kibito." Gohan was grateful for the healing, "What did you do, anyway? I feel better than before."

"I'll explain what's going on if you come with me." Kibito then rose into the air, high above the arena.

Rini and Gohan looked up at Kibito and then at each other. Jun Jun piped up, "So, what's going on here?"

"Good question. I want to know too!" Palla Palla raised her hand up eagerly.

"Well?" Vesu Vesu looked at Gohan.

Gohan, a little overwhelmed by the quartet, answered, "I'm not sure."

"Whatever it is, it's insane!" Hotaru concluded. The quartet nodded agreement. Before the boy even had a chance to breathe, Hotaru continued, "Whatever it is, we all have a duty to the Earth, so we'll do our best to help, no matter what."

"Right." Cere Cere agreed. "But you have to take care of our princess, okay?"

"Then I can go, right?" Rini looked at Gohan.

"What? Listen… I don't think you should. No doubt that it's going to be dangerous; and I don't want you to get hurt. Not again." Gohan's words sounded firm. He looked into Rini's eyes with as much seriousness as he could muster.

"But I can help! It's my duty and… I want to be there!" Rini's persuasion wasn't working, she could tell from his unchanging expression. "If you don't let me, then I'll just follow you anyway." At that, Gohan sighed with defeat. He knew it was true. She would definitely do that.

"Alright… but if things get too rough, promise me you'll get out of there?" He reached out to offer his hand.

"I promise." Rini took his hand. She turned to the scouts. "Tell my mom I'm going to go help them?"

"Yes, Princess." Hotaru smiled with a nod.

"Let's go!" Gohan told Rini, still holding her hand. She nodded and the two took off to catch up to Kibito.

After they cleared the arena and a few hundred feet beyond that, they saw Kibito waiting for them in the air. The tall man smiled at them and the three continued on.

**A/N: I finally finished this! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Things are FINALLY starting to fall in place for the Buu saga! Please continue reading and reviewing! I'll try to get one more chapter up before school starts up for summer classes. **


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

**A/N: So… when I try to post the chapters, usually, in the word document, I use little ~ marks or something similar to divide up scenes. However, I've noticed for a while now that that mark doesn't come through when I post the chapter online. This bugs me, so bear with me as I try new methods to divide the scenes. **

A_A_A_A_A

As Rini and Gohan left the arena, Darien and Serena exchanged glances. Both wondered what was going on. Chichi also wondered but she voiced this out loud.

"Where on Earth are they all going? How is my family supposed to get the prize money if nobody in my family is left to compete…?" Her concerns were on money, though after her eldest son had been attacked as he had, she was still worried about him too. "I hope Gohan and Goku will be alright. Whenever they go off on their own like that they get into trouble."

"Chichi…" Serena started, "I think that one of our scouts' vision is coming true."

"Vision?" Chichi questioned as the attention of Bulma, Roshi and the others was drawn to the conversation. Rei stepped forward, looking somber, and used a hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yes, I had a vision about this day. Something very dangerous is lurking and I feel that Gohan, Rini and the others have gone to face it. But I fear they might not be enough. This new adversary was very powerful."

"So, you're saying that we're all going to die?" Bulma sounded skeptical.

"I don't buy it. Even if you really had this vision, it's invalid. My Goku always comes through in the end to save us!" Chichi was fired up a bit.

"Vegeta too! He may not be the nicest guy but if Goku failed, then Vegeta would take his place and save the planet." Bulma's hands were on her hips and her nose in the air just a tad.

"Well, good thing Goku won't fail then." Chichi smirked at Bulma and the two ladies locked eyes with great ferocity.

"Please, both of you, this is a serious matter and should be taken as such. Rei's visions are never wrong. Now, it didn't show her the outcome of this battle, but things will become bleak at some point. When that moment comes, we'll be ready to face it." Lita spoke up this time. Both Chichi and Bulma looked at her, realizing that she meant what she said.

At that moment, Hotaru and the quartet (not transformed anymore) rejoined the others. Serena was the first to speak when she noticed the girls approaching. "Hotaru…" Before the queen could say anything more, Hotaru burst.

"I'm sorry, Serena! I didn't want to let her go but I can't fly! And I knew she would've gone even if I'd said no! … But Gohan's with her; that's good, right?" She struggled to regain her usually cool composure as she moped.

"We all saw how that went last time." Haruka quipped from the side. Her voice was bitter. Michiru nudged her cousin urgently as a way of silencing her grumbling. Chichi would've objected had Michiru not done that.

"Calm down, Hotaru, Haruka. It's alright. I feel that he'll do his best without hesitation if the situation arises." Serena looked at her scouts and smiled. She told the truth but the smile was a lie. She worried about what may happen. "I'm sure they'll be okay."

"If not, we'll definitely knock some faces in." Mina crossed her arms and nodded with a smile.

"That's an understatement!" Jun Jun added.

"Anyway, how about we support the remainder of our friends who are in the tournament?" Bulma suggested, noticing the worried expression on Serena's face. Darien smiled at the sentiment and linked his arm to his wife's arm to provide more comfort to her.

A_A_A_A_A

Hotaru and the quartet decided to walk around the tournament buildings a bit and left the queen's group to continue watching the competition. Granted, they figured it would be a while before they decided what to do with a great percent of the competitors missing.

Ahead, along the walkway, Palla Palla noticed a strange man in a costume. The man wore a white tunic under a blue mask and cape. Honestly, she thought his proportions were way off. She pointed him out to the others. "Don't you think he seems a bit odd?"

"Yeah… but something about him feels familiar." Vesu Vesu considered for a moment. "What was his name? Mighty Mask?"

"Yeah, that was it." Cere Cere nodded at Vesu Vesu's guess. She remembered it because he looked so funny.

It was then that Mighty Mask started shouting at his stomach. The girls looked at him and then at one another. They were not only confused, but wondering if he was even sane.

"Shush! They may have left to go do something but we're here to get the money for toys, remember?" The voice of a young boy seemed to come from Mighty Mask's mouth. "Plus, beating the World Champion would definitely be a good day in my book!"

"I guess so…" A second voice came from the masked man's stomach. "But we're staying just because our dad's and the other's are so strong that they probably don't need us to help them with whatever it is." This boy seemed hesitant.

Hotaru tilted her head at the scene in front of them. Vesu Vesu thought quietly for a moment before looking at Palla Palla. They nodded to one another and then stepped forward to confront the two behind the mask.

"Hey, Goten, long time no see!" Vesu Vesu greeted the masked fighter with much enthusiasm.

"Goten!" Palla Palla said the boy's name with a singsong voice as the other girls followed the first two.

"Hi! Oh… I mean… gurgle." Goten's voice had replied but then sounded alarmed and he'd gone quiet.

"What the heck, Goten?" Trunks yelled. "Now you've gone and blown our cover!" There was much struggling in the costume so the girls could only assume that Trunks was trying to bop the younger boy on the head while Goten tried to avoid such an action.

"At ease, boys. We won't tell anyone." Jun Jun put a hand on top of the head under the mask. "This might make it more interesting. Plus, if they can't tell that there are two people under there that's their fault." She grinned. It took a few moments to absorb what she said, but Trunks grinned back at her.

"So, you're Goten's friend?" Cere Cere asked Trunks with a warm smile.

"I'm Trunks."

"Oh, he fought you in the finals of the junior division. I remember you." Palla Palla declared.

"Goten… who are all these girls?" Trunks looked down at the lower half of the disguise.

"They're all Rini's friends. I met a few of them when Rini was over at our house learning how to fly. They're sailor scouts, Trunks!" Goten informed his friend who was standing on his shoulders.

"That's neat, I guess." Trunks wasn't really sure what else to say to that. He'd only ever heard about the scouts when Gohan had come over to ask about them a while back. He knew they were some sort of hero group of girls.

"You bet your purple hair, it's neat!" Hotaru assured Trunks with a certain sternness in her tone. She smirked at the young boy.

"So, do you guys know where the others went?" Goten asked Hotaru.

"They went off to try and stop something bad from happening. Shin was here to ask for their help and so they've gone to do just that." Hotaru told Goten as she cast her eyes at the ground. She really wished she could've followed too. But until they were sure that the group had arrived, a sailor teleport would be a bad idea. Falling from the air did not sound like fun and would probably make them much less useful to the princess. All they could do for the time being was to wait.

A_A_A_A_A

Shin had just finished explaining to Goku, Krillin, Vegeta and Piccolo exactly what they were after. A monster called Majin Buu was threatening to be awoken on Earth. The monster had been created by a wizard named Bibidi. Upon destroying a planet, Majin Buu would go into a state of dormancy to travel to the next planet where Bibidi would wake him to start the cycle all over again. When Bibidi had met his end on Earth before waking Majin Buu, they'd believed the threat to be over and left the monster to its dormancy, but it was learned much later on that Bibidi had a son named Babidi who could also control Majin Buu. He confirmed that Babidi was the one controlling Yamu and Spopovitch. He'd used the evil in their hearts to take hold of their minds and manipulate them at his desire. This, according to Shin, was the danger of this wizard.

A_A_A_A_A

Kibito had also recounted the tale of Majin Buu to Rini and Gohan as they traveled. Rini was impressed with the story of a monster that was centuries old that had destroyed planets. However, it must've never been to this solar system before because she'd never heard of it. And how could such a dangerous enemy go unnoticed as it arrived on Earth? Even if he was dormant upon arrival. How long had it been on Earth?

"So if Yamu and Spopovitch didn't enter the tournament to win, then why were they even there?" Gohan asked Kibito as they flew on. Their group was likely a few miles behind Goku's group so they were asking questions and getting answers at a different pace.

"Babidi intends to resurrect Majin Buu, but in order to do this he requires a substantial amount of pure energy." Kibito told Gohan.

"So they came after me?" The young man wondered if they could've possibly targeted him knowing exactly who he was and how strong he was.

"Babidi sent them to the tournament because he believed it would be the easiest place to gather such a large amount of energy." Kibito's eyes shifted to look at Gohan flying at his side. "Only at the moment that they saw you transform into a super Saiyan did you become their target. The Supreme Kai and I knew Babidi would send someone to the tournament and so we entered as well. The ball, or cocoon, containing Majin Buu has vanished. We journeyed to where it lay before and there was no sign of it so we believe it is in Babidi's grasp. We wait only for the energy to open it. That is when they will reveal Majin Buu's location to transfer the energy. Upon its success, the world will slip into darkness."

"That doesn't sound good at all…" Gohan trailed off as he, too, was impressed with the lore of the beast and the explanation of what they were getting involved in.

"Yeah, I think I'm getting a little nervous about going after this thing." Rini muttered from Gohan's other side. She admired how he seemed calm about the situation but also remembered that he'd fought very powerful foes before this.

"You've reason to be." Kibito told the girl in monotone. He didn't blame her for a certain level of discomfort.

"If you want to head back, you can." Gohan informed her. His words were partly because he wanted her to head back for safety and partly because, well, it was true. She pouted at him almost instantly for saying that.

"No. I'm staying with you." She determined. Gohan found his face warmed at her words.

"Of course." He now felt a little unnerved by her stare as it was directed at him with a feeling of resentment.

A_A_A_A_A

"I don't get it. You had your chance to finish off Majin Buu when you were fighting Babidi's father. Why didn't you take it?" Goku asked Shin.

"It wasn't worth the risk. We feared that any external stimulus might accidentally set him free. The ball in which he was confined, was hidden deep under the Earth's surface where no human could ever find it so we allowed him to lie dormant. If our actions had accidentally set Majin Buu free, we would have powerless to stop him."

A_A_A_A_A

"We need to fly faster to catch up." Kibito told Gohan and Rini after a bit of silence. Gohan nodded, it was no problem for him. He looked at Rini. While she was great a flying, he didn't think she'd be able to fly as fast as Kibito meant for them to.

"Rini, can you keep up with us if we go faster?" He asked her with his purest concern. She was still a bit pouty from his earlier comment about going home and made a face at him that expressed just that.

"I think I'll be okay." She lied. She didn't know if she could go much faster than they were already and still be able to control her flight well.

"If you wish to continue on with us, you'd do better to hold on to Gohan or myself." Kibito told the girl, seeing her lie as if it were written on her face. He may not express much emotion in his words, but he did understand her determination to help.

The group didn't even stop; Rini nodded and took hold of Gohan, hugging him closely. Gohan also held onto her tightly so she wouldn't fall behind. "You ready?" He asked her softly.

"Yes." Rini told him eagerly.

With that, Gohan and Kibito sped up. Rini was amazed with how fast they could go. Her eyes were closed as she held on tightly to Gohan. She could feel her hair (while in Gohan's arms as well, it's still very long) whipping around her legs and hope it was hitting Gohan. But he showed no sign of eve noticing so she assumed it wasn't. That aside, this speed was actually a lot of fun!

A_A_A_A_A

Hotaru and the quartet had chatted with Goten and Trunks for a little while until the remaining competitors were called to the ring to await the decision of what would happen since the others had left. They bid farewell and good luck to the boys before they went on their way. The girls were about to head back to their seats but were met by Setsuna before they made it too far.

"You all want to go help too, don't you?" Setsuna opened with this instead of a greeting. She could read the girls well, for she felt the same.

"We do." Hotaru nodded, a sad smile displayed on her face. "Can you do anything?"

"Not that I know of. At least, not until they land somewhere. But the considerations that must be made are that they may be under attack immediately upon their arrival." Setsuna relayed her news to the younger generation of scouts. "And also… I can only transport one of you for the time being. That is all my powers can do, I'm afraid."

"Only one?" Cere Cere half-frowned. The asteroid scouts all silently agreed and looked at Hotaru as if to offer the position to her.

"Me? Are you sure you don't want to draw straws or something?" Hotaru asked them.

"We're sure." Vesu Vesu assured her after quick chuckle.

"The princess would be happiest to see you and you the happiest to go help, we all know the bond of best friends. And our bond as sister asteroids is similar in that we don't want to be separated from one another." Jun Jun explained.

"So you get to go help until we can catch up!" Palla Palla smiled a big toothy smile at the guardian of Saturn.

"Alright." Hotaru smiled back at them and then turned to Setsuna. "So how will you know when they land?"

"I have a connection with Small Lady and I can sense that her location is in constant change right now. When they've stopped moving for a few minutes, I will transport you to her using my Garnet Rod."

A_A_A_A_A

"Hey, Dad, guys!" Gohan called to the others as they came into view and earshot. He would've waved if he hadn't been holding onto Rini.

"Hey, Gohan!" Krillin waved as he turned to see the young man's arrival with Kibito and Rini still in his company. Krillin noticed Rini clinging to Gohan's front and chuckled. "Couldn't resist the urge any longer, eh, Gohan?"

"It's not that…!" Gohan blushed, still holding onto her. "She couldn't quite keep up with our pace so Kibito suggested one of us help her." Rini would've objected to Krillin's words herself, but she feared if she opened her mouth at this speed, a bug might make her gag.

"You could've left her behind." Vegeta interjected.

"That's not nice Vegeta!" Goku lectured. Vegeta scoffed and ignored the words of his rival. "Anyway, I'm glad you guys caught up. It sounds like this fight's going to be interesting. Let's have fun with it!" Goku grinned at his son.

"Definitely!" Gohan agreed. The Saiyan fighting spirit was something to be reckoned.

A_A_A_A_A

A few minutes passed and Shin noted aloud that Yamu and Spopovitch seemed to be landing. They did as well, but behind a rocky cliff so as not to be seen.

"Suppress your energy, everyone, we don't want them to know we're here. Not just yet." Shin told them as soon as they'd landed.

"Here you go, Rini." Gohan had said as he put her down. Gohan released Rini at last and she tried to regain the feeling in her legs by shaking them out a bit. She also tidied her hair a little even though it had stayed relatively kept.

"Thanks, Gohan." She smiled.

"Bringing your woman to a battlefield is like leaving a child in a candy store with their allowance and telling them not to get anything; there's no point in doing it." Vegeta muttered upon seeing Rini quickly trying to groom herself. She paused at hearing his words and glared at him. He glared back.

"Hey, hold on now, she wants to help and with what we've been told of this monster, I'm willing to accept any help she has to offer." Krillin defended her. "Besides, Vegeta, she has gotten stronger than she was earlier."

"Whatever. Just don't expect me to shield her when they attack." Vegeta crossed his arms and looked at where Yamu and Spopovitch had landed. Gohan, Goku and the others observed as well. The two they'd followed landed in a big open area surrounded by rocky cliffs. There was a spaceship of some kind that looked like everything but the entrance had been buried. The dirt around the ship looked like it had recently been disturbed, as Goku pointed out to Shin. Kibito noted that that must've been why they couldn't find the ship after searching for as long as they had.

A strange humanoid (as in, he's bipedal) alien in black a spandex suit, wearing a white chest piece of armor and matching helmet that drooped like a tail from the back of his head had met the two ruffians. Just how much of the helmet was filled with his cranium, no one knew. (I certainly don't!) His helmet had an 'M' on the front.

A few moments after the armored man walked out, Goku turned to Shin. "Is that guy Babidi?"

"No, he's one of Babidi's minions."

The group watched as two more figures walked out of the doorway of the mostly buried spaceship. One was short and green like an olive. He wore a sleeveless robe (half black on top, other half a light blue) that went to his ankles and what looked like an orange cape with armholes but no sleeves and had a hood that was down and bunched around his neck. He age showed in his face, or perhaps it was just the kind of alien he was, for he had wrinkles. At each side of his mouth, he had little whiskers or feelers that made Goku think vaguely of a catfish. He shivered, remembering what catfish tasted like. But one more things stood out on this guy. On the front of his robe, he had that emblem of an 'M' back on a white stone of some sort. He was walking next to a large red/pink man.

The large man wore a blue outfit that look like it was a one-piece suit of some variety. The V-neck on it was so deep that it went to his belt and his nothing of his muscled torso. The shoulders of his suit were very poofy but then clung to his arms. The pants were also a little poofy. He wore a cape very similar to the other newcomer, but it was white and the edges were styled differently. The man had two horns on top of his head and pointed ears. He had a close cut black beard and a black patch of hair on top of his head between the two horns. On his forehead, he had that same 'M' emblem.

"Dabura?" Shin sounded shocked and even intimidated by realizing just who Babidi had on his team of minions.

"He even has Dabura?" Kibito was just as surprised.

"Dabura? Who's that?" Rini asked.

"The king of the Demon World." Kibito answered.

"Demon World?" Gohan asked this one.

"It's a world on the other side of this one, like two sides of the same coin. It's a realm of darkness and demons. One of your group may be the most powerful in this world, but in the Demon World, Dabura is the strongest." Shin told them, not taking his eyes off of the king.

"Which one is he?" Goku wondered.

"The tall one." Shin answered, referring to the man who wore the blue clothing.

"Um… how about I take the little guy?" Krillin tried to volunteer.

"The little guy…" Gohan echoed, thinking. "Then he must be Babidi?"

"Yes, and he's the most dangerous. It's not his size that you need to worry about; it's his magic! And if he's managed to ensnare Dabura, then he's more powerful than I expected. He makes minions by finding the darkness in a person's heart and manipulating that." Shin explained to the group.

"Well… that means some of us are safe. But what about Piccolo? He wasn't always a good guy…" Krillin teased the Namekian.

"Not the time for that." Piccolo hissed at Krillin, startling the short man.

"Regardless, they're all dangerous foes and we'd best be on our toes if we don't wish to fall victim to their attack." Shin interrupted Krillin's scene to conclude his analysis of the villains.

"This is starting to sound really dangerous. I mean, you guys seem to have this handled. If you think you need me, I can stay but…" Krillin backed away a few steps after hearing about Dabura and getting a sense of Babidi's power.

"Krillin, you have a wife and a daughter… if you want to, you can go back to your family." Goku told his closest friend. "Besides, I'd hate to imagine what your wife would do to me if something happened to you." He added a little humor to the end.

"She does have a slight temper…" Krillin had blushed at imagining his wife's anger over him. "But I love her."

Rini listened to Krillin's words. Eighteen was very beautiful. Krillin was certainly lucky to have found her. She thought that they seemed happy when they were all at the tournament earlier that day. Someday, she'd have that too. She stole a glance at Gohan as he looked down at the enemies.

A_A_A_A_A

Yamu handed Babidi the device that he and Spopovitch had used to steal Gohan's energy at the tournament. He looked rather proud of himself. "Here you are, Lord Babidi."

"Ah, I trust it's full of energy?" Babidi's smarmy voice came out.

"Yes, we filled it completely." Yamu and Spopovitch both smiled with pride in their work.

"Yeah! We got a lot of energy!" Spopovitch declared in excitement with a tad of spittle escaping him.

"Good." Babidi mused to himself. Then he turned to the two mind slaves. "It's a shame you've outlived your usefulness to me."

The smiles on the faces of the two men suddenly vanished and were replaced with fear. Spopovitch suddenly cried out in pain as Babidi locked eyes with him. Before anyone was the wiser, Spopovitch blew up, literally. There was nothing left, not even bits of him. Yamu, terrified, tried to fly away from the horrible fate Babidi had just bestowed upon the two, but to no avail. Yamu had only made it, maybe, 200 feet away via air before he also suffered an explosion of the bodily persuasion.

Babidi smirked all the while he was killing his slaves. Dabura and the third companion also smirked. Babidi looked at the device in which the energy was stored with utter delight and released a small chuckle.

A_A_A_A_A

"He killed them?" Rini was in disbelief. She'd never seen someone senselessly kill his own teammates.

"What kind of person would kill their own teammates?" Gohan was also in shocked.

The rest of the group, save Vegeta and Piccolo, were also surprised by this. Krillin was even more nervous now that he'd seen the wizard blow something up with his mind. Goku had seen this kind of treachery before, but still didn't like it anymore than he had the first time. It just wasn't right in his book for one person to meaninglessly kill someone like that, friends or not.

A_A_A_A_A

Back at the tournament, Setsuna sat with Hotaru on a bench, both transformed. The asteroid scouts had returned to their seats after wishing the scout of destruction good luck.

"They haven't moved for a good seven minutes." Setsuna informed Hotaru. The scouts both stood up and Pluto materialized her Garnet Rod. "Ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready." Saturn nodded with seriousness in her tone. "Thank you, Pluto."

"You're welcome. Do your best for Small Lady." Pluto smiled. With that, she waved her rod. Saturn was enveloped in a white light and then the light shrank and disappeared. Saturn was no longer standing in front of Pluto. "I wish you good fortune, Saturn. I sense misfortune will devour this planet in a matter of hours."

**A/N: Alright, I won't lie. I really wanted to use Yu Yu Hakusho logic when Shin started talking about the Demon World. I watched the episode today and when he said Dabura was king of it, I just said, "Yusuke could beat him." And I feel that's true. Granted, if Yusuke avoids the spit. He'd probably dodge the first one and make some snarky comment… Yu-chan. -_-; Anyway, getting back to THIS anime crossover, I managed to pump this one out in a couple hours. I usually take 2-4 hours depending on length of chapter, how well I plot it out, and whether or not I actually need to watch an episode to base the chapter on. I hope you all enjoyed, even though not much happened. Things will start to go by faster during the fights, I think. Because, as much as the show can drag the fights on… I feel that they can be shortened significantly. **

**EDIT: I noticed upon reviewing the posted fic that there were some errors. And while I usually don't go bananas over fixing those right away, I noticed that one of them was pretty crucial so I went ahead and did that. Sorry if you read it before I fixed that up. D8**


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**A/N: So, naturally, school has started up again. This quarter is going to be heavy on the homework, I can feel it! D: I hope you guys can be patient with me as I'm guessing I won't get to work much on this in the next couple months.**

**So… I got some reviews in regards to what some of the readers think will happen with mind control and whatnot. I can't say at this point whether or not the ideas are just ideas or if they will be incorporated into the story. I honestly hardly plan ahead on this one… well, aside from the parts that must happen based on the DBZ storyline.**

**Another review I got was asking about how Shin knows who Rini is. I was going to leave that up for speculation, but he can read minds…Not that that is the definite reason… there are a lot of reasons he could know. And for that, instead of typing it all over again, here, copy/pasted from the message: **

"Let's see, the reason Shin know she's the Moon Princess? Well, I was going to leave that to speculation, but there are a number of reasons he could know. For one, he can read minds (episode 219, I believe). Because of that, chances are that he's caught on to Rini being who she is. Or he might just know because he knows lots of things pertaining to the different planets. He doesn't even have to know precisely who she is. He is pretty old so he could've been alive in the time of the Silver Millenium before the Negaverse attack. He might just know who the scouts are (having seen them or sensed them when Spopovitch was roughing Rini up). And he could've have derived a conclusion from watching the scouts being protective of her."

**Let's face it; Shin's a very observant little dude and any of those or even a combination, could be how he arrived at his conclusion. XD Anyway… sorry for the long note, please read and review like always! You all know I love to hear thoughts on my fic! Enjoy! **

Hotaru, in her scout uniform and ready for action, felt a strange fuzziness in her head as she kept her eyes closed. Setsuna had just teleported her with the Garnet Rod. And, to be honest, she wasn't feeling too good at the moment. The scout of destruction put a hand to her head as she felt the seconds go on for minutes.

A_A_A_A_A

Krillin took a few more steps back on the rocks that overlooked the villains that Shin and Kibito had been looking for. They saw that Babidi was cackling at the fear of the humans that he'd just killed. Dabura was smirking as well while the third just stood silently watching with a mild amount of entertainment playing on his oversized lips.

"Babidi seeks out the strongest fighters he can find and uses them until he can no longer gain anything from them." Kibito told the group. Gohan and Goku continued to look on in shock until Gohan shifted his gaze to Rini. She looked horrified.

"Rini…?" The young Saiyan stepped closer to her and said her name with concern leaking from his tone. "Are you alright?"

"I think so. It's just that I… I've never seen someone turn around and murder a colleague before. They were human, both of them…" She shook her head. Taking in the situation was taking a toll on her mind. She breathed heavily to regain herself. "I guess I know what to expect now." Rini felt a bit intimidated by the gravity of the power she felt looming just under them but knew she would have to face them eventually.

"You'd better get used to seeing casualties if you don't plan to get in the way!" Vegeta commented on Rini's other side. He sounded irritated by her to no end. But at the same time, Gohan was surprised that he hadn't said something harsher to the girl. He rested a comforting hand on her shoulder and offered an encouraging expression—it wasn't quite a smile, but it was similar.

"Babidi plans to eventually destroy the whole planet in the way he just killed Spopovitch and Yamu." Shin told them as he glared down at the enemies.

After a minute or two of watching more words being exchanged between Babidi and his cohorts, the fighters wondered what was going on. Babidi and the armored crony had re-entered the spaceship and left Dabura standing on his own outside. The devil-like man stood motionless as he powered up instantly. This moved his cape and then he turned to face the cliff face that the group watched from with a malicious smirk.

"He knows we're here!"

In just seconds, Dabura had appeared in front of Kibito and blasted the man with an energy blast so intense that nothing was left of him. He'd smirk when he was certain of Kibito's death.

"Kibito!" Shin and Gohan both shouted as they realized what had happened.

Goku and Vegeta both attempted to engage Dabura in combat after the demon's attack, however, after defending against a few punches and kicks from each, the man backed away, floating in midair, and did a quick scan of the group. His eyes fell on Krillin and he immediately launched a mouthful of spit at the short man.

"Ew!" Krillin exclaimed upon the spit hitting his face.

Rini looked at Krillin, not sure what spit was supposed to do. While she looked Krillin's way, Piccolo had tried to charge at Dabura, only to receive a second mouthful of spit on his shirt. He stopped, landed and looked down at his shirt in confusion, only to be alarmed by Krillin's sudden screaming.

Krillin had started to gradually turn into stone! The ends of his limbs started to change and slowly went in toward the core of his body. Rini's eyes widened as she watched, not knowing what could be done to stop this. Piccolo soon turned to stone too as the group watched. Shin told them of Dabura's power and that the process could not be undone at this point.

Dabura's eyes went to Rini next and he recalled Babidi's order: leave the three with impressive power and the Supreme Kai alive and bait them into the ship. He smirked as he flew at the girl. Rini was nervous but managed to dodge a kick that had been aimed at her side by jumping into the air and landing gracefully behind Dabura. She put her right hand against his right side and released a beam of energy from her hand. Surprised by her attack, the demon king was hit and immediately tried to counter, but failed. At that exact moment, Hotaru appeared above Dabura and plopped onto his head from the air, causing his counter to miss. Dabura cast her aside and then decided to head back into the ship instead of wasting time with these peons. A smirk covered his face, knowing he'd probably defeat them all eventually anyway.

"If you want to avenge your friends, you're welcome to try. You just have to enter the ship."

Gohan went to Rini, who had rushed to Hotaru's side as soon as she'd seen her friend thrown to the side. Goku and Vegeta watched the younger generation and then looked at Shin. The Supreme Kai nodded and watched the younger ones as well, allowing them a moment to check on Hotaru.

"Hotaru! Are you alright?" Rini was frantic in checking on her friend. Hotaru put a hand to her head as Rini helped her to her feet. Gohan also offered the girl a hand to hold while she balanced herself and tried to figure out what just happened.

"Rini… I'm fine; I just bumped my skull on that rock… I may be bruised, but I'm good." Hotaru assured her princess.

"What are you doing here, Hotaru?" Gohan asked the scout once she seemed to have a grasp on her movements and had taken a few steps to look around at where they were. At Gohan's question, the scout turned to face him and furrowed her brows.

"What am I doing here? What do you think I'm doing here? I came because _somebody_ wanted to fly off with my princess to a dangerous location and not take her guardians with her! You aren't the only one who cares about her, you know." She'd mumbled that last bit a little more quietly than the rest. This made Gohan blush a little while scratching the back of his neck with one hand.

"I'm sorry… I guess. But she wanted to come along and she wouldn't take no for an answer…" Gohan didn't know what else to say and lucky for him, Rini interrupted.

"He's right, Hotaru. But how did you get here anyway? The others didn't come?" Rini looked around cautiously, in case the quartet planned to pop out of nowhere.

"Pluto sent me with her powers. She's more accurate than our sailor teleport, which frankly, needs a little work. But she could only send one and so the girls said I could go and they would catch up later when they could. Your mom probably would've wanted to come herself, but we didn't really mention it to her… whoops." Hotaru thought that the queen might be a bit disappointed at the news of having missed an opportunity to help her daughter even if she couldn't transform anymore.

"I see… Well, welcome to the team!" Rini smiled.

"Yes, oh joy. Just what we needed: another woman in a miniskirt on the battlefield." Vegeta remarked sarcastically from where he stood waiting for the teens to finish their chatter.

"Hey now! You watch it, shorty! You have no idea who I am so you can just hold your tongue!" Hotaru shouted at him.

"It's you who has no idea! If you think you can talk to _me _in that manner and live a long life then you're sorely mistaken!" Vegeta shouted back at her. The two were glaring daggers at one another just daring the other to step wrong- until Goku cleared his throat loudly.

"Well then, I think we're ready to follow Dabura into the ship, right guys?" He smiled at everyone and Vegeta silently took to the air. Shin and Goku followed. Rini quickly exchanged looks with Gohan and Hotaru and then lifted into the air. She floated behind her best friend. Rini grabbed hold of Hotaru's arms on the bottom side and hoisted her into the air. The group landed right outside the entrance and Goku peeked in.

"Looks like it goes down a ways." He then looked at everyone in the group; two sailor scouts, two Saiyans, not including him, and a kai looked back at him with a nod, indicating that they were ready. The man nodded back at them and then hopped in the doorway. It was similar to an elevator shaft, he felt. The door opened to a long downward tunnel.

The long tunnel let out at the ceiling of a room shaped like a dome. The room was pretty empty aside from two doors; one of the doors was directly below the tunnel and the other was against the wall. Rini put Hotaru down gently as not to hurt her friend. The others, more battle-hardened than Rini, quickly scanned the room they were in. They faced different directions so as not to be ambushed.

"Huh, doesn't look much like a spaceship." Gohan observed cautiously still scanning the room.

"And how many spaceships have you been on to make you an expert?" Hotaru quipped.

"Oh… uh," Gohan thought for a moment and then continued, "I'm not exactly sure, but I've been on one designed by Capsule Corporation so I'm pretty sure I know what the inside of one looks like."

Ignoring the conversation, Goku seemed disappointed. "I thought they were going to be waiting to fight us down here."

While her friend pestered Gohan and Goku wondered where the bad guys were, Rini pointed to the door. "Hey, a door!" Shin and Vegeta were first to look.

The others all grew silent and looked at where Rini pointed. It was certainly a door. While they took a few seconds to absorb the surroundings, some whirring and cranking noises could be heard. Some sort of machinery was at work. The group looked up, toward the noise, and saw that the entrance they'd used was now closing.

"We're trapped now. We can't exit the ship until we've defeated Babidi." Shin shook his head lightly; he seemed very unhappy about this.

"Well, that is what we came to do... isn't it?" Goku reminded the Supreme Kai only to receive a groan.

"I'll solve all of our problems and blow this place into oblivion." Vegeta smirked. He reveled in the idea of ending this as soon as possible.

"No you won't!" Shin snapped at him instantly. He seemed about to say more but Hotaru interjected.

"Yeah, we're all on the ship! What if we get killed in the explosion?" The scout wasn't keen on friendly fire.

"And more importantly…" Shin cleared his throat, "The sudden shock could accidentally set Majin Buu free! The degree to which you've underestimated him is astounding! Even at a fraction of his full power, he could annihilate this entire planet and all of its inhabitants in an instant! He can't be stopped! " He was not happy with Vegeta's idea either, but more for reasons that involved saving the world from being destroyed.

"Well, there's that too." Hotaru muttered under her breath. She decided she would heed to warning of Majin Buu's power. Even if she could also destroy the world as easily as Majin Buu was rumored to capable, there was no clarity on exactly how strong he would be. Rini listened to them as well. This would be a difficult battle if Buu was awakened. According to Shin, it was impossible. That was why he wanted to destroy the only one who could wake the beast instead.

After a long moment of silence, Vegeta turned toward the door as well. "I thought there would actually be a fight in this place."

A_A_A_A_A

In a dark room, floors below the heroes, Babidi watched the group attempting to thwart his goal on a glowing crystal ball. He giggled madly to himself for a moment as he was pleased to see his long-time enemy, the Supreme Kai, among the group. Oh, how he wanted to kill that kai.

"Master Babidi, has the time come?" The armored alien from earlier eagerly asked the small wizard. He was sweating with anticipation.

"Oh, my dear Pui Pui…" Babidi sounded like he was going to wave the matter away until later.

"Please, I'm becoming quite anxious!" Pui Pui fiddled with his hands a bit, displaying his anxiety.

"Then let's put it to good use." Babidi decided. "Go see our guests and don't leave a drop of their energy behind." The wizard's instructions pleased his underling.

"Yes! Not a drop!" Pui Pui agreed with excitement. He moved his head side to side to stratch out his neck and then took a deep breath.

Babidi turned his attention to the device that contained Gohan's pilfered energy and noted aloud, "Oh, look at me, I almost forgot. I should inject this energy before it loses its purity." The wizard used his magic to float the crystal ball to a pedestal in the middle of the room. "Come now, Dabura, we already know how this fight will turn out." He waltzed on over to a through a doorway and entered a much darker room, the silent Dabura following him obediently.

In this room was the ball that held Majin Buu. It was normally a light pink color, but the shadows in the room made it appear much less saturated. The ball had a sort of fleshy texture with what looked like veins all over. The ball rested upon a pedestal with some sort of meter installed on it. The meter told how much energy was needed to wake his father's monster.

Babidi wasted no more time and injected the needle of the device directly into the cocoon that held Majin Buu. The meter instantly spiked up! The needle of the meter danced around the half way mark for a good few seconds before finally settling at just a notch below the half way marking. Babidi looked at it and was shocked.

"Already half full? We already have half the energy we need. Amazing! All of that from just one shot!"

"Impossible." Dabura was also surprised by this.

"I'm wondering from how many hundreds of people Spopovich and Yamu gathered all this."

"Well… it's too late to ask them now." Dabura reminded his master.

"Right… But if they gathered this much energy in such a small amount of time, maybe I shouldn't have destroyed them." Babidi pondered as he scratched his cheek.

"No, you made the right choice. The energy that will be gathered by those fighters in stage one will be enough to bring the gauge up to full. It's possible that our chance to resurrect Majin Buu will come today." Dabura assured his master with a malicious smile. It was as if the demon king could already taste the blood of their victims; that's what his smile said.

"Then we can mark today as the beginning of the end! I've been waiting for this day for so long that it's hard to believe it's really here." Babidi laughed with bemusement. He then walked back over to his crystal ball, Dabura following. "Let's see how Pui Pui is doing…" He gazed at the glass ball on its pedestal.

A_A_A_A_A

After a few minutes of silence following Shin's outburst, the group of scouts, Saiyans and a kai all perked their ears at the sound of the door opening in front of them. All were now paying rapt attention to the enemy behind the door. As the door finished rising, they saw that the visitor was the alien in the white armor that had been outside earlier.

"Welcome, fellow warriors, you've arrived at stage one." Pui Pui stepped into the room and spoke in his gravelly voice.

"It's about time somebody showed their face! I was beginning to think that you'd all run off!" Hotaru said indignantly. Mostly, she just wanted to annoy their guest because he was a bad guy and she felt a hint of smugness.

"Stage one?" Rini questioned the enemy's words.

Pui Pui pointed downward at the floor. "Master Babidi is at the bottom level of this ship. You are currently at the top, known as stage one. You can only reach him by going through each stage. Though you don't need to concern yourself with getting to stage two. Unfortunately for you, I am your first opponent." The alien man cackled, obviously full of confidence.

Interrupting the cackles, Goku chuckled a little too before saying, "Alright, which of us gets to fight first?"

"I feel that Gohan should do it. He needs to showcase his abilities." Hotaru answered almost immediately. Gohan raised a brow. "Come on, you can't back down from that!" Hotaru antagonized him until Rini put a hand on her shoulder to quiet her.

"Aw, but I wanted to do it!" Goku whined. He had been itching to fight all day and they were no longer at the tournament, but in a world-saving situation, which meant the opponents were bound to be tougher.

"Too bad, Kakarot! If anyone should be the one to show the enemies what they've gotten themselves into, it should be me!" Vegeta argued.

"I kind of wanted to try it, myself…" Rini raised her hand shyly. She knew she probably wasn't as strong as the Saiyan men, but she felt that stage one also meant the weakest bad guy. So it would be a good opportunity to gauge the strength of the enemy.

"Princess…" Hotaru half-frowned. "I'm sorry, but if you're going to try and volunteer, I have to try and volunteer in your stead!" The scout of destruction insisted. "It's my duty!"

"Then I guess I'm up for this as well." Gohan put his name in the metaphorical hat.

Rini looked at Gohan for a moment, taken aback by his implication. "Gohan…" Rini smiled at the young man and he winked at her in return.

"I can't have you getting hurt again." Gohan told her simply, still smiling.

"Alright, so we all want to fight. Let's have a battle to decide." Vegeta suggested. Clearly, he just wanted to fight, not overly concerned about whom he would be hitting.

"I feel that method would be counter-productive. We all need to start at full health or it's not on an equal playing ground." Goku pointed out.

"Well then, I guess there's only one fair way to settle this…" Hotaru started with a sly twinkle of her violet eyes.

Just a second later, the five volunteers were playing rock paper scissors. Each was counting loudly and eagerly as they threw their hands into a quickly formed circle. Shin stood outside of the circle; the confused kai was blown away by how they were acting. He wasn't sure of the sanity of these fighters, but he couldn't seem to find his words at the moment to express himself. Pui Pui was just as stunned as Shin and he stood still to watch in awe of their shenanigans.

Much shouting erupted from the group. Things like "Do over! You changed yours!" "Wait, are we going on three or after three?" and "First to three victories gets to smash this guy's face!"

After much of this and a full two minutes, the winner emerged: Hotaru. She grinned in triumph. "Sweetness!" She was pumped. She took a moment to materialize her silence glaive into her hand and turned to face Pui Pui.

Pui Pui, who had been speechless this whole time, regained his initial composure and put his fists on his hips. "Every ounce of energy you lose during our fight will be channeled directly to Majin Buu so let's get his started!"

The alien man didn't waste another moment; he charged at Hotaru through the air directly at her with a kick. She breathed deeply, her cold eyes were calculating. She moved her glaive up to block his attack. It worked! And he was shocked that she was able to hinder him. He leapt back a few feet and then charged again, this time with a flurry of punches.

Hotaru, surprisingly quick with her glaive, was able to either dodge or deflect each punch. Rini watched in awe. She was unaware at how quickly the scout of Saturn could move.

"Wow, I didn't expect that." Goku smiled as he watched the young woman dodging and blocking with her weapon. He looked at her eyes. They seemed detached from the environment somehow. The Saiyan figured it was her way of being 'in the zone' during combat.

Hotaru finally found her chance to strike inside of Pui Pui's guard and took a swift slice at him. She'd managed a hit on his arm, where he had no armor. The cut went through the material covering him and left him with a cut, small amounts of purple blood dripping.

"She got him!" Shin observed. He was being pulled into the fight as a spectator. Goku and Gohan nodded absently as they watched. Vegeta merely watched, ignoring the vocal observations. Rini was wondering just how long Hotaru had been able to fight like this.

Hotaru was on the offensive now, striking with her glaive. And not just with the bladed edge either; she used the butt of the staff too! She gracefully twirled the weapon like she was using a bo staff. Still, she did have to throw in a block here and there or a dodge when blocking wouldn't do her any good. But the flow was so graceful when she moved. Pui Pui grew frustrated at being on equal grounds with this woman and threw a kick to try and catch her off guard. Her cold eyes widened just slightly and she leapt back a few feet.

Hotaru lifted her glaive in front of her body, her breathing fast-paced and her focus unbroken. She grasped her glaive with both hands, standing in a defensive stance. "Silence Glaive Surprise!" She called out. A bright light emitted from her weapon and shot toward Pui Pui. He was enveloped in the light, screaming in what sounded like pain.

Goku and the others quickly shielded their eyes from this light, as it was very intense. "Did she do it?" Goku asked since he couldn't see.

"I don't know." Rini was the one to reply to Goku's question since nobody else took the opportunity to answer.

Once the light died down, they looked at the combatants. Hotaru stood where she had before, breathing easily. Her opponent was a little more torn up than before and dripping blood from a number of small injuries. Parts of his armor were now cracked or chipped off. Hotaru smirked at seeing this.

Suddenly, the room changed! Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Rini and Shin looked around curiously. Rini noted that she felt extra weight placed on her. Hotaru noticed that the environment around her opponent had drastically changed. They were now outside, on the surface of a distant planet judging from feel in the air. She felt a change in the gravity from the Earth's.

"What happened? Where are we?" Goku was still looking around.

"It's Babidi's magic! He used his magic to change our surroundings. It seems he's trying to give that fighter the advantage!" Shin explained; he was familiar with many tricks of the wizard.

"Oh… is she going to be alright?" Goku looked at Hotaru. She didn't seem to be acting any differently from what he could see.

"Ahahahahaha!" Pui Pui cackled. "This is my home planet! I've won many glorious battles here! Just like I'm going to win this one! Do you know why?" Without even waiting to see if he would be graced with an answer, he continued, lifting a rock from the ground. He dropped the rock and the impact on the planet's surface was so powerful that the rock made a small rock-sized crater. "The gravity here is much stronger than that of the Earth! I've got the advantage now!"

"That would be true, if I'd been born on Earth originally. My home planet also has a gravity more powerful than the Earth." Hotaru smiled disdainfully. She dashed at Pui Pui showing no difficulty and catching him off guard. "Silence Glaive Destruction!" The glaive once again started to resonate with light, this one much less blinding. He was caught in a blast that shot from the weapon and knocked back, more wounds than before. Hotaru then leapt in to the air toward the enemy and readied her glaive to strike. She used the bladed edge to pierce through his weakened armor and it went straight through. Pui Pui gagged on his own blood as he coughed some up. She'd hit him straight through the heart. He took a few moments, but soon stopped squirming on the receiving end of the glaive. His body now lie motionless on the floor as the room reverted back to normal. They were in the ship again. Hotaru pulled the glaive out of Pui Pui's body and shook the weapon lightly in an attempt to get some of the blood off.

Rini's eyes were wide. She'd never seen Hotaru fight so remarkably before! "Hotaru! That was amazing!" Rini ran up to her friend. The others walked toward the girl as well as she dematerialized her weapon. The scouts of destruction looked at her comrades and smiled before plopping down onto the floor.

"Good god, I think I pulled something in that last bit there! The gravity on Saturn is stronger than Earth's but no t as strong as that one. I think the jump at the end was too much…" She held her left leg on her thigh. She slowly massaged it. Rini, Gohan and Goku shared a laugh. Shin was in awe. Vegeta, on the other hand had made his way to the fallen enemy.

"Disgusting." Vegeta muttered as he shot a blast of energy to vaporize the body. He felt a little better then and turned to look at his teammates.

Rini helped Hotaru stand up and the girl tested her leg by applying different amounts of pressure on it. "How's it feel?" The princess asked her guardian.

"It's a little tender, but I can still continue. However, I'd like to keep from fighting while I'm able so as to keep from straining it."

"Hotaru, remind me not to tick you off in the future!" Gohan complemented the young woman.

"Haha, I don't do reminders in your case." She stuck her tongue out at him. "So you'll just have to remember."

"Hahaha, alright." Gohan agreed jokingly. He felt it would be a very long time before he forgot this fight.

"Can you walk on your own, Hotaru?" Rini was still holding one of her friend's arms to support her.

"I can, but it'll be a little gimpy. No worries though." She told her princess this and waved the issue away with her free hand.

"Well, Hotaru, you definitely surprised us!" Goku told the girl. "I had no idea you were so powerful."

"I do possess a lot of power. All the scouts have a lot of power. It's just applied in different ways than yours. You use physical strength and energy blasts. We tend to use more pure energy. Though a few scouts have taken up martial arts, our physical abilities aren't as great as what you seem to have going." Hotaru explained the difference between their powers.

"I see…" Shin murmured. "Sailor Scouts… I have heard tales of these beings. Guardians of respective planets with unique abilities based on the planet." The kai addressed Rini and Hotaru. "I am grateful for your assistance in this mission." He bowed his head very slightly as a show of respect.

Rini and Hotaru exchanged glances and then both responded with their own slight nods of the head.

"So, you two, of all the scouts, which scout has the most power?" Goku asked in great curiosity. He was always wondering who was strong and who he could expect a good fight from.

"Well, that used to be Sailor Moon, the Princess's mother…" Saturn told the man.

"Used to be?" Gohan asked her.

"When the Princess was born, the queen lost her ability to transform. She is still very powerful, but she may only call upon her greatest powers against the greatest of threats. This is because her body is too far weakened to control it all. She would die from the stress on her body." Hotaru explained. She felt that this group was trustworthy enough to reveal this information to.

"Huh… is that what having a kid does to a woman? If so, I wonder how strong Chi Chi was before having you, Gohan?" Goku grinned at his son. Gohan flushed lightly. It wasn't a thought he wanted to have.

"Kakarot, you fool."

"It doesn't work like that for everyone, Goku." Rini giggled. "It's just that my mother's power weakened so I could receive enough to further develop on my own."

"So then… are you the strongest scout now?" Goku asked.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that…" Rini shied away from answering, her gaze going to the floor.

"She has a lot of untapped power, but every one of the scouts believes she has the most potential." Hotaru answered instead.

"I see!" Goku exclaimed, happy to have his answer. "So it's like Gohan when we fought Cell…"

"Dad…" Gohan knew what his father was on to. Goku was thinking that Rini would be like Gohan in that she would require motivation to reach her full power. A motivation that Gohan hoped he would never have to need again: the motivation of avenging the death of a loved one.

"Kakarot, children!" Vegeta addressed the chatty group. "As educational as this seems for you, I have had enough waiting around! Let's move to the next opponent!" The stubborn Saiyan nodded his head toward the circular opening in the floor that had opened while they'd talked. Shin nodded as he noticed.

"Vegeta's right. Every moment counts right now! We've got to hurry to stop Majin Buu from being resurrected." At the Supreme Kai's words, most of the group nodded and hopped into the hole in the floor that led to the next room. Rini was once again the one carrying Hotaru.

They landed gently on the floor on the next level down. This room was identical to the last. Goku looked around, as did the others.

"Well, I hope they don't keep us waiting as long as before." Goku crossed his arms and stuck out his lower lip. "After all, it's my turn next!"

"Who decided that?" Vegeta snapped.

"Me, just now. Hotaru fought the last guy, but you ended up being the one to make sure the job was done. And Gohan and Rini probably won't mind it if I go. That means it's my turn." Rini and Gohan looked at one another and then nodded at Goku, indicating that they didn't mind.

"Getting rid of the body was clean up, not my turn!" Vegeta objected.

"Now, now, Vegeta. You still have a match with me when this is all over. And it would be best if you were at full strength for that." Goku raised a good point.

Vegeta growled. "Fine, Kakarot. But only because I expect you to have no difficulties with whatever lackey Babidi sends out next!"

Goku grinned with triumph as he began stretching his body for whom or whatever would come out of the second door. Rini, Hotaru and Gohan sat down at the edge of the room to wait. They chatted about trivial things. Vegeta stood away from the group stubbornly crossing his arms and observing his comrades. Shin just stood next to the stretching Goku.

_This will certainly be an interesting day._ Shin's thoughts echoed in his head, exasperated.

**End Chapter**

**A/N: I'm SOOOOO sorry that I took so long to release this chapter! I wrote bits and pieces over the quarter and then got busy with school. 4****th**** quarter review is a pain and intensely stressful. Plus, there's been lots of hubbabaloo (no, you probably will not find that in a dictionary) about a program reconstruction going on that mostly changes, guess whose, MY program. So, I've been dealing with all my school crap and I apologize profusely for not having enough time to pull aside for this story. Yes, I did update another story, but I don't have to go back to reference full episodes to decide what to change for that one. But for this one, I generally do. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed that chapter and please feel free to tell me your thoughts on it. Next chapter will continue the fights with Babidi's minions and likely show a little of what's going on back at the tournament with the other characters. Thank you all for staying with me!**


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"I'm not kidding; just imagine for a second, if you will, that this Majin Buu turns out to be a fluffy kitten!" Hotaru insisted to Rini and Gohan as the teens sat off to the side of the room. Gohan's eyebrows questioned Hotaru's idea. Rini considered the possibility.

"If he is, I feel he wouldn't seem very intimidating. Besides, that only ever happens in video games…" Rini pointed out. She paused and then looked at Shin. "And also, Shin wouldn't be so scared of a kitten."

"A powerful, evil kitten!" Hotaru corrected her princess as she leaned closer to the group.

"I'm still not convinced." Gohan shook his head.

Goku listened from where he was stretching and tilted his head. "Shin, you've seen Majin Buu, he doesn't look like a kitten, right?"

"No, Goku, he doesn't look like a kitten." The Kai sighed. Shin could tell that his companions must be getting tired of waiting for the next challenge if this was really a topic they were discussing seriously.

"Kakarot, you and those children are all foolish." Vegeta muttered, shaking his head. Goku pouted at Vegeta and was about to object but they all turned their attention to a sudden noise.

The door started to creak open. All eyes focused on the beast that walked out. It was tall, green and scaly. It stood on two legs like a human but certainly was not very similar beyond that. Its hand had three clawed fingers and its feet, two clawed toes. There were extra spikes sticking out at some points around his body that added to the beast's intimidating appearance. Perhaps the most troublesome-looking were the claws that extended from the top side of his arm at the wrist. He salivated from his reptilian mouth as his dome eyes surveyed the group. The beast growled at the fighters.

"What? Oh no…" Shin said, looking at the beast.

"Aw, why'd I get this guy?" Goku stepped up as Gohan and the girls stood up to watch. "Sure he's big… but he looks kind of dumb to me."

"He looks like the lovechild of a large lizard and a bug." Hotaru commented.

"I know who he is; this beast is Yakon." Shin interjected with a slight shake of his head.

The group watched as Goku engaged the monster. A few techniques exchanged in the air and then Yakon swiftly use one of his clawed arms to slash at Goku, cutting just the neckline of his shirt. Goku noticed this after having dodged the rest and was surprised, releasing a shout the accurately showed just how surprised he was.

"So he's big and fast." Gohan observed. Shin nodded, he'd known this and would've mentioned it if they'd shown even just the slightest interest or caution toward the beast.

The room suddenly became dark and the temperature dropped. Rini and Hotaru shivered and then looked every direction. They couldn't see a thing.

"Princess… are you still there?" Hotaru felt the need to check on Rini.

"Yeah, I'm here, Hotaru. How about you, Gohan?" Rini then carried on asking for confirmation of Gohan's presence.

"I'm here, too. No worries." Gohan was grinning, not that anyone could tell.

"Quit it with the roll call." Vegeta demanded.

"Well, Vegeta's here too. Dang." Hotaru commented upon hearing the Saiyan prince's voice. Nobody could see through the darkness, but they could all assume that Vegeta was scowling at Hotaru.

Goku couldn't see anything either, from the sound of him yelping. He'd run into a rock and bumped his shin. "Ouch! What is-? Oh, it's a rock." Goku had knelt down to feel what he'd run into.

From the darkness, a low, gravelly voice came out. "Ahahahahaha! Welcome to the Planet of Darkness!"

Goku scratched his head as he looked around the darkness. He couldn't quite tell which direction the voice had come from.

"You're scratching your head right now… I can see you but you can't see me!"

"You can?" Goku asked, sounding like he thought that might be a little unfair. But he got over that thought quickly enough. Goku was always up for a challenge.

"Sounds like he feels right at home." Gohan thought Yakon sounded pretty pleased with the lack of light.

"Yakon was born here. It's at the far end of the universe where no light can reach it, thus the Planet of Darkness." Shin explained.

Yakon took this moment to launch himself at Goku. "You're mine now! I'm going to eat you!" As the beast got closer, Goku's nose twitched slightly and he dodged by leaping into the air above his opponent. The Saiyan struck the beast with both hands, fingers laced together. He hit Yakon hard enough to send him across the room and into the ground with a loud thud. As Yakon rose to his feet, he looked around and couldn't see Goku anywhere. "Where'd he go?"

A split second later, Goku appeared behind Yakon and shouted, "Eat this!" His words were followed by another hit that sent the monster flying to the ground once again. As the hero landed, Yakon was up and trying to attack him from behind again. Goku side-stepped and threw a reverse sidekick with his right leg right at Yakon's face. The monster yelled in pain.

"Hey, can any of you tell what's going on out there?" Shin turned toward where he felt the presence of his companions. He was a bit on-edge since he couldn't see where the enemy was.

"Nope." Hotaru answered right away.

"Kakarot's winning." Vegeta told Shin simply as they heard another exchange take place in the darkness.

"How can you tell?" Rini asked, very intrigued by the answer. She couldn't even see her own nose in this darkness. She shivered again as she waited for an answer. Vegeta didn't respond, but Gohan did.

"We can feel the energies right now. My dad's isn't going down or showing signs of difficulty while Yakon's is. So it's a safe assumption that Dad's winning."

"Oh. That's useful." Rini nodded and looked to where the battle was.

"I've been wondering, Vegeta, why do you call him 'Kakarot'?" Hotaru asked.

"It is his true name." Vegeta folded his arms across his chest.

"Really? Then how come nobody else uses it?" Hotaru asked another question, only to be answered by Vegeta's silence. "Fine, think you're too good to answer me?! Gohan, you know, right?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess. When he was sent to Earth, he was found and named by a kind elderly man, Gohan. I'm named after him."

"Fascinating…" Hotaru answered. She then looked back to where she was pretty certain Vegeta stood and scoffed. "See, that isn't such a hard question to answer!"

"Girl, you're really starting to get on my nerves!" Vegeta growled at the scout.

"You guys, now is not the time! Hotaru, stop bugging him." Rini said to her friend.

"Fine…" Hotaru obeyed her princess and longtime friend instantly.

A_A_A_A_A

Back at the tournament, the queen, king and their scouts sat as the announcer explained that Hercule had suggested a battle royale format for the remaining contenders. Those would be: Hercule, Eighteen, Videl, Mighty Mask, and Killer. A lot of the audience was interested in seeing the world champ compete against his daughter. And Videl was pumped too.

While there was still a bit of time before the final match started, the Asteroid scouts were all fidgeting in their seats. Setsuna saw this and smiled a charming smile at them. From her place next to Jun Jun, she told them, "Girls, my energy is almost back, patience. Just try to relax for a few more minutes."

"Setsuna, I still don't get why you wouldn't just come to us and get a full-blown sailor teleport…" Lita commented from her friend's other side.

"Well, I didn't want to bother you all. And what kind of guardians would leave their queen with a world-destruction prediction coming to pass?" Setsuna's voice almost sang upon mentioning the destruction.

"You're right. But even a partial teleport with help from old pros would be useful. Then the queen wouldn't be unprotected and neither would the princess." Mina interjected, hearing the discussion.

"Now, now, Rini's not unprotected. She has Gohan, Goku, Shin and Hotaru at least. And maybe even that Vegeta fellow." Michiru pointed out, sounding confident in the abilities of each person she'd listed. At that, Haruka snorted. Michiru nudged her cousin's shoulder. "We've discussed it."

"Anyway, Setsuna, when your energy is back, you'll still send us to Rini, right?" Cere Cere wanted to be assured that this was going to happen. Her eyes showed her determination to keep Rini from getting hurt again.

Looking at Cere Cere, Setsuna nodded her head. "Of course. But I'm pretty sure my energy won't be completely restored for about forty minutes, maybe an hour."

Mutual groans echoed among the group, causing random audience members to glance over at the group before turning a deaf ear to them once more.

"They really are worried about Rini, huh?" Chi Chi had heard the other group from a few rows in front of them. She sat with Bulma, Serena, Darien, Marron, Yamcha, Ox King, Roshi, Oolong and Puar.

"It's in their nature; after all, Rini s their princess and our daughter." Darien told her.

"But if Gohan's with her, she'll be fine. He and Goku won't let her get hurt like before." Chi Chi put a thoughtful hand under her chin to rest.

"We know they'll do what they can…" Serena said this with great concern still hanging onto her mind.

Bulma put a hand on the shoulder of the queen. "Just believe in our guys for a bit. You'll see that they're great at protecting others."

A_A_A_A_A

Goku hit Yakon again and again. Clearly, Yakon didn't have the advantage he'd thought. The Saiyan's movements were accurate and powerful; he'd just needed a minute to no fumble around in the dark.

"How are you hitting me? Can you see me?" Yakon's exasperated tone displayed his frustration.

"I can't see you at all. I can sense your movements by the subtle vibrations in the air." Goku smiled as he answered, completely aware that Yakon was standing about ten feet in front of him. Goku wrinkled his nose. "Oh, and I can smell you too." He followed this comment with a chuckle before continuing, "I do have one way I could see you…" Goku let out a shout and he became a super Saiyan! His normally black hair was blonde and his aura lit up the entire room.

"Oh!" Hotaru commented.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Gohan was always proud of his father.

"Not only that, he lit everything up." Her lips turned into a fake frown. "Now I can't make faces at you without you seeing." Gohan stared at Hotaru for a moment before she stuck her tongue out at him. Rini giggled as Gohan chose to ignore it.

"Well done." Yakon's gravelly voice didn't lose any confidence. "Now I can't hide in the dark."

"Why is he so calm…?" Goku mumbled to himself.

Yakon opened his mouth wide and a vacuum-like suction of air started! Goku stood in place, his hair moving with the wind suction. The onlookers watched with interest and question in their eyes. The golden aura around Goku was sucked into Yakon's mouth! Suddenlly, Goku's transformation wore off and he stood in confusion. It was dark again.

"What just happened?" Rini's eyes were blinded by the darkness once more as the light from Goku's energy went out.

Yakon belched a bit before speaking, "I've never eaten such a rich and brilliant amount of light before."

"What?"

"Yakon is a type of monster that eats light energy. Super Saiyan energy is like a delicacy to him." Shin explained.

"Dad! Don't go super Saiyan again, he'll eat up your energy!" Gohan shouted to his father from the sidelines. It was then that Goku thought of something. He turned to Yakon.

"Hey, are you still hungry? Ready for a second course?"

"What's he up to?" Hotaru asked nobody in particular as she and the others watched Goku.

"Dad! Really! Don't go super Saiyan; he's draining your energy! We can fight him together!" Gohan shouted again as he recognized the tone in Goku's voice. His dad wasn't going to heed his words.

"I fight alone Gohan. I don't need help." Goku refused his son's offer for help. He went super once more and the room lit up.

"Is he insane? Is this a game to him?" Shin was still at a loss when it came to Saiyan behavior in battle.

"Let him do what he wants. Kakarot wouldn't purposely get eaten alive." Vegeta silenced the Kai's words with his own. Shin looked at Vegeta, hoping he was right and that Goku had a plan.

Goku kept powering up as Yakon kept sucking up the energy. He couldn't get enough of it and so he kept eating, feeding on it. And Goku kept up his power level as best as he could. The monster's appetite was great. This went on for a few minutes, until Yakon suddenly started to glow a little. The golden flash under his skin and BOOM—the beast literally burst from eating too much. Nothing was left of the creature.

"He blew up?"Gohan was surprised.

"I wondered if he would go boom." Rini commented. This received a few looks from her companions. "Well, it's like that feeling you get when you eat too much food, except in Yakon's case, his stomach actually burst with such force that it took his body with it!" Rini seemed to have made sense of it herself.

Gohan and Vegeta weren't quite sure about the feeling of eating too much, but didn't question it since Hotaru nodded her head in understanding.

"Oh, hey! Guys, the floor opened!" The door on the floor had opened upon Yakon's defeat. Goku wasted no time and hopped into the door, still super. The others followed, this time Shin helped Hotaru in her descent. After landing in a lit room identical to each room before Babidi's meddling, Gohan turned to Rini.

"Mind if I take this one? I've been itching for a fight since we got here." He sheepishly asked this.

"I guess so…" Her answer was hesitant. She hadn't gotten to try out her new powers yet and she wanted to. "If you really want to."

Gohan saw Rini's eyes avoid his glance. "Well, and this is just a thought, maybe we could tag team?"

"Tag team?" Rini tilted her head. She knew what it meant, but didn't quite get how that was going to work.

"I'll tag off with you occasionally and vice versa. Then you can attack for a bit. As long as our opponent focuses on the one attacking, it might work. But if he goes for the other one, I'll take over and _make_ him focus on me." The young Saiyan explained his idea to share the battle.

"I guess that sounds fine. It'll be like an average day saving the town." Rini smiled. Gohan's heart skipped a beat as he saw her smile. He nodded, happy she agreed to his terms.

"You two work so well together." Goku commented as his listened to them. He then pulled Gohan aside and put an arm around his son's shoulders. "Gosh, you really like her, huh? Sharing your fight is a big decision… are you sure?" He acted like his son had just proposed marriage or something.

"Dad…" Gohan felt his cheeks burning.

A_A_A_A_A

The announcer of the tournament took a deep breath before speaking into the microphone he held. He knew the audience had been patient and he knew that it was time to reward their patience and announce the battle royale!

"Alright, would all the contestants come out please!" He struck a pose, holding onto his mic. He pointed toward the arena. "First, we have our world champion, Hercule!"

The champion entered the ring; the entire crowd cheered his name in what seemed to the scouts a hypnotic chant. He did his showboating tricks and waved, milking this for as long as he could. Haruka, Michiru, Amy, and Setsuna all though he looked incredibly nervous to be going in the ring with Eighteen.

"Next, the blonde bombshell with a wacky name, Eighteen!"

Eighteen, hands in her pockets, walked into the ring behind Hercule. She had no interest in being remembered by the audience. She just wanted to win the reward money. Her aloofness disappeared for a moment when she heard her daughter, Marron, shout, "Go Mommy!" A warm smile flashed for a moment before she continued to ignore the crowd.

"He was defeated early on in the last tournament, Mighty Mask! Come on down!"

The disguised Goten and Trunks tried to do a flip into the ring, but landing nicely with your friend on top of your shoulders is a difficult thing to do, so the two almost toppled. But their recovery was quick. The Asteroid scouts cheered loudly for the boys. "Mighty Mask! Wooo!"

"This guy isn't known for being very good, is he?" Goten whispered up to Trunks from the bottom of the costume.

"He'll be grateful when we're done. Gosh, he just might be the new world champ!" Trunks answered in a hushed tone.

"Next up, a great fighter, Killer!"

The boxer walked up to the ring calmly. He eyed his opponents and pondered what his first move would be.

"And last, but certainly not least, you all know and love her, Videl!" The audience burst into cheers almost as loud as they had for Hercule. The scouts also cheered for her. Mina had told them that she knew her and that she was a good girl. And Rini had mentioned her to Serena and Darien a few times.

"Alright, so the regular rules still apply, but now there are five people fighting at once. Look out for yourself and try your best!" The announcer encouraged them over the roaring of the crowd.

**That's all for now, next time the royale will start! Yaaaaay! And will also try to include the main fight stuff. Need to coordinate Rini and Gohan trying to tag-team. That should be interesting. Anyway, look forward to it in the next chapter (which should be out before my break is over)! Hope you all had a great holiday season and enjoyed this chapter. **


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Videl looked at Eighteen. She knew that Eighteen was among Gohan's group of friends. That would mean she was strong. The young lady then looked over at her father. His eyes were looking around the ring at other competitors as well. He didn't seem to know where to focus. For good reason, Videl believed. This would be a tough call. She looked at Killer next and then at Mighty Mask. She wasn't sure, but she believed that Killer would be easier to take down. She knew more about him than she did about Mighty Mask.

Eighteen glanced around. All the other energies in the ring were pretty weak… except Mighty Mask. He moved like a goofball and talked really strangely but there was something about the energy he gave off that Eighteen thought might be worth some caution. She would take out whoever came at her after picking off the weakest energy. Her eyes focused on Killer. He would go down first. Her eyes went to Videl; that girl was one of Gohan's friends, so she would consider taking it easy on her. Her attention went to Hercule. Well, if he got close, he would be knocked out of the ring from receiving a stray punch knowing his luck. She knew he was trembling in his boots even if he didn't show it to the audience.

Trunks sat on Goten's shoulders, eyeing the others like they were doing to him. He knew Eighteen would be the greatest competition here. The others wouldn't be hard to beat at all. Suddenly, Goten shifted a bit under the costume they wore.

"Trunks… can we save Videl for last? She's one of my brother's friends. I don't want to hurt her." His words were quiet and hesitant. He knew Trunks would probably agree, but he also knew that his friend didn't want to take it easy on anyone here.

"Seriously? We have Eighteen to worry about on the side and you want to take it easy on Videl?" Trunks' voice was filled with irritation. But he sighed in resignation when Goten whined a bit. "Fine. But just until she's the only one left other than us. Then she's going down. We won't hurt her badly, but we will beat her."

"Okay. Thanks, Trunks." Goten was grateful for his best friend's cooperation.

From the audience, all the scouts and the friends and family of the Z-fighters watched with great anticipation, awaiting the official declaration from the announcer that the match would begin. He brought his hand into the air and took a deep breath.

"Alright, contestants! Is everybody ready? Begin!"

Instantly, Videl, Eighteen and Mighty Mask went for Killer. Mighty Mask made it first with a punch connecting to the boxer's jaw. Videl connected next with a sweep kick, causing the man to fall. Eighteen had stopped her advance a few steps back upon noticing the other two going for him. She waited for the man to trip and fall. In mid-fall, Eighteen grabbed the back of the man's shirt and effortlessly threw him out of the ring to the grass.

While the audience was in awe, the three fighters exchanged glances. Mighty Mask backed away from Videl and waited for someone else to make the next move. Their 'teamwork' hadn't exactly been intentional, but that was fine.

"Wow! Two seconds in and Killer's out!" The announcer declared when he realized what had happened. "It seems like three of our fighters had a similar thought process."

Hercule stood in place. He'd expected all four of the fighters in the ring opposing him to attack at once, with him as the target. But instead, Killer had been the target while the champ had needlessly braced himself for an onslaught.

Eighteen pondered a moment and then began to run at Mighty Mask! Goten and Trunks readied themselves as she closed the distance. Trunks managed to block the first punch and counter with a punch of his own. His attack was blocked by Eighteen's quick reflexes; she'd seemed surprised that Mighty Mask could move so quickly. Her eyes narrowed as she took a step back to allow Videl in. Videl had planned to charge Mighty Mask next as well, but Goten stepped to the side as Trunks used the girl's momentum to toss her across the ring. Videl recovered by doing a flip and landing perfectly on her feet.

"Well, folks, it would seem that Mighty Mask has become the next target! Videl and number Eighteen both seem to be after him! What will he do?" The commentary from the announcer only added to the match.

In the crowd, the Asteroid scouts kept cheering for Mighty Mask, since they knew it was really Goten and Trunks in the costume. Mina looked at them strangely.

"Why do you girls keep cheering for him? Do you know him?" the blonde asked them with utmost curiosity.

"Well… kind of." Vesu Vesu answered. "He's a new acquaintance and we wanted to cheer him on." She put one hand on her hip as she put the other to her chin in thought. She didn't know whether she should tell Mina or not who was really behind the mask.

"But Videl is such a nice girl! I think she deserves the most support for putting up with her father." Mina insisted. Having worked with Hercule before, she spoke from experience.

"I don't know," Lita interjected into the conversation, "I like this Eighteen woman. She's pretty tough. And isn't she with Gohan's crew?"

"Should we cheer for all of them?" Palla Palla wondered aloud.

"Nah, that'll make us sound indecisive. Besides, if we did, we might as well just say 'Beat Hercule' over and over." Rei sighed. "I think we're all fine cheering for our own preferences. Just don't get rowdy like crazy sports fans." She focused again on the match as Haruka nodded in agreement with her words.

"Though I can't say I'd mind shouting that phrase… he really shouldn't be champ." Jun Jun crossed her arms as she eyed the man she spoke about. "After all, he didn't _really_ save the world from Cell. That was the rag-tag group at the Cell Games." She frowned as she watched Hercule staring at his competition.

"Now, now. Let's just be quiet and let the match unfold, 'kay?" Michiru smiled at the group as she suggested this calmly. She leaned her head into Haruka's shoulder as the two watched the battle royale.

Videl leapt at Mighty Mask from where she'd been thrown and barely missed him with a flying kick. After dodging to the side, Goten and Trunks had no time to recover and Eighteen was in front of them throwing her own kick. She hit Trunks' torso and the two went flying across the arena. Videl wasted no time and rushed the boys again. She was going to throw another flying kick. This time she connected, hitting Goten in the head, and sent the two in a directional change straight up into the air.

"Time to fly!" Trunks growled at Goten. The boys were now floating in the air, taking a few seconds to recover from the strikes. Videl stood in bewilderment for a minute before taking to the air with them. Eighteen hadn't wasted a moment; she flew at the boys and got to them first. Mighty Mask and Eighteen exchanged blows, many hits and misses were mixed in. Videl soon joined the others in a flurry of strikes, blocks and dodges.

Hercule stood in the ring next to the announcer, staring up at the fighters. His eyes were wide and his voice was dry. "When did Videl…? How are they…?" He was so shocked that he couldn't seem to finish a sentence.

"Wow! Their fists are flying and so are they!" the announcer loved the action he could see—and even the action he couldn't see.

Mighty Mask felt a bit overwhelmed by all the attacks that the ladies were throwing at him. Goten was panting as he tried to kick and dodge at the same time. Trunks was busy blocking and punching as he focused more on Eighteen than Videl. That was a mistake, because Videl wasn't as much of a pushover as he'd hoped. She rushed at Mighty Mask and managed to land a punch on the side Trunks' head. The boy was knocked back, almost to the point of falling off of Goten's shoulders. Goten also got pulled back by Trunks as the older boy tried to not fall off. Goten was choked for just a moment by Trunks; he'd put his feet under Goten's chin in his effort to not be discovered. The boys then recovered from the momentary attack and dodged Videl's next strike.

"I swear, if she comes after us again, I don't care who she is, I'm hitting back!" Trunks snapped at his friend quietly.

"Okay… just… don't hurt her too bad." Goten finally agreed.

As if on cue, Videl followed up her miss with a reverse strike in an attempt to surprise Mighty Mask. Trunks caught her hand in his grip and then shot toward the ground, still gripping her fist. Goten followed his friend's movement closely in the bottom half of the costume. Videl was so shocked at suddenly being dragged through the air at top speed that when Trunks released her just a foot above the ground, she almost tripped finding her footing. A moment passed before she looked at the ground and realized her feet were touching it.

"Oh no… darn it!" Videl shouted, mostly at herself.

"It looks like Videl is out due to touching solid ground outside of the arena. Sorry, guys! It seems like Mighty Mask didn't want to have to deal with two attackers simultaneously!" The announcer relayed to the audience. Attention stayed on Mighty Mask and Eighteen. They were exchanging blows once more up in the air.

Hercule looked at his daughter, contemplating running over to her while pretending to forget that he would be forfeiting as well if he did such a thing. _After all, it's a parents' job to make sure their kids are healthy!_ Hercule thought to himself. He looked at Videl, and then shook his head lightly. _No… it wouldn't work so well. She doesn't look injured enough for me to be overly concerned, especially for being as tough as she is. She is my daughter, after all. _He abandoned his idea of accidentally forfeiting the match and stared up at Eighteen and Mighty Mask. He was scared to face one of those beasts. He tried not to show it, but he really didn't think he'd win.

The flying fighters kept exchanging blows; Eighteen occasionally noticed something odd about her opponent's movements. Mighty Mask was hit by a strong kick and sent flying into the ring—right toward Hercule. The world champion tried to run out of the way but instead got knocked away by the force of the impact next to him. Mighty Mask breathed for a moment as the announcer slowly and curiously approached to check on the condition of the fighter.

"Goten, we've gotta go super. She's kicking our butts!" Trunks whispered urgently from the top half of the disguise he and his friend wore.

"Right! Then she won't stand a chance!" Goten agreed.

As the announcer got to their side, he was startled by the fighter suddenly jumping up and shooting back into the air right toward Eighteen. And something else seemed strange about him. He was surrounded by a light aura of gold light. It seemed to radiate from his own body.

"Mighty Mask is back in! This is incredible!" The announcer shouted with utmost excitement.

"Huh? Something seems different about him now…" Palla Palla mumbled just loud enough for the group around her to hear. Roshi nodded in agreement at her words. He looked intently at the battle raging on in the ring.

"Now that you mention it, wasn't there an energy similar to this one earlier? I think it was when Gohan transformed…" Lita noted.

"It feels more similar to the young ones in the junior division if you ask me." Rei's intuition was sharp.

"Come to think of it, we haven't seen Goten or Trunks for quite some time…" Bulma thought out loud.

"Then that means…" Chi Chi trailed off as she glared up at the combatants above the ring.

Eighteen had caught on too, as soon as the two had gone super Saiyan. She knew it was Goten and Trunks masquerading as Mighty Mask! _Those boys…! They're such troublemakers._ She braced herself for the next onslaught of attacks. As a punch was thrown, Eighteen got inside the boys' guard and flipped them over her shoulder, sending them spiraling toward the ring that was already in shambles. She charged a destructo disk and launched it immediately after the boys, making sure to aim it directly in the stomach of the costume.

"Oh _my_! It appears that Miss Eighteen has—has cut Mighty Mask in half!" The announcer was shocked at first and then fell silent as he watched the way the two halves separated in the air. Screams seemed to be coming from both halves as they landed in different areas of the ring. That couldn't be right… "What's this?" The announcer stepped closer to the top half of the costume, seeing legs sticking out of what he thought had been Might Mask's upper torso. He then looked to the other half and saw Goten's head sticking out of Mighty Mask's lower body. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it appears that Mighty Mask was actually two children, the only kids who would ever be able to pull this off—Goten and Trunks!" The Announcer told the arena of fighting fans as he realized it.

"Oh… Busted." Vesu Vesu giggled along with the other girls of her quartet.

"Looks like we can't hide it anymore…" Trunks uttered as he removed the top of the destroyed costume. Goten nodded as he ripped off the bottom of the costume.

"Yeah. Looks like we'll have to finish this without our disguise." Goten's eyes focused on Eighteen, still floating high above the boys.

The boys and Eighteen had a moment longer of intense eye contact and then they launched back into attack mode! Eighteen roughly two inches from punching Trunks' head and Goten was just about to land a kick on Eighteen's stomach, but the Announcer interrupted.

"Hey! Hey! What are you doing?!" His voice cracked slightly as he caught the attention of the fighters.

"We're fighting; what does it look like to you?" Trunks shouted back as each of the three fighters froze in position.

"What I mean is: you two boys can't fight in the adult division! And not only are you not old enough, you masqueraded as a single fighter! You can't do that!"

"Well… we did." Goten started to frown, hearing the warning tone of the Announcer. "Is that bad?"

"Well, yes, it's bad! It's not allowed! You two must be disqualified!" The Announcer was frustrated and a bit disappointed. He would've loved to let them all continue, but rules are rules and he decided to do his job.

"Dang it! Come on, Goten! Let's get out of here before our moms ground us!" Trunks quickly coaxed his friend to follow him and the two boys were gone in an instant, flying off in the direction that Goku and the others had headed off earlier.

"Goten! You get back here and face your punishment like a responsible young man!" Chi Chi was rampant from her seat in the audience. Bulma was also very angry with Trunks, obvious from her narrowed eyes and shaking fist as she also shouted after her own son.

"Trunks! Come back here!"

"Looks like they're off…" Mina raised a brow. "Maybe I shouldn't have kids anytime soon. I don't think I could control them… And they'd likely inherit more than just my powers…" She muttered her thoughts aloud. Her fellow scouts looked at her with a bunch of mixed emotions.

"Mina, you're not… seeing someone, are you?" Lita decided to ask after each scout had thought over the same question.

"Ahahaha… no… not at all… Okay! Fine, you remember that actor who played lead male in my last movie?" Mina nervously giggled.

"Oh, Gin-kun?" Serena asked. "He told me you two were dating when I visited you on set that one time. Congratulations, by the way. I haven't really seen you since then because of the big. And you never answer your phone." The queen's cheery expression was honestly congratulating her guardian.

"And you didn't tell us? Neither of you?" Rei sounded full of disbelief.

As the senior scouts bickered and some confessions came out, the quartet noticed Setsuna glancing at them briefly with a flicker in her eye. She was either able to send another scout now, or something bad was happening.

**End Chapter**

**A/N: ** Sorry to take sooooooo long to update, everyone! –insert lame excuse involving school here- I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Next time, I should be able to cover Dabura, and the events leading up to the release of Majin Buu!


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Rini sighed heavily. Hotaru answered the princess's sigh with one of her own. The entire group was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the next opponent. It had been well over thirty minutes of them sitting around or pacing circles. Gohan looked at Rini when he heard her sigh.

"Getting tired of waiting too?" Gohan's voice hadn't been loud, but it broke the silence in the room.

Rini looked up at him and then nodded as she stood up. She straightened up her skirt before replying. "It feels like it's been so long. Does saving the world always take this long?" She said this with more humor in her tone than seriousness.

"Sometimes longer." Gohan chuckled.

"Children…" Vegeta muttered in an irritated tone as he stood to Goku side, Shin at the other.

"Oh, let them have fun chatting, Vegeta. I think he really likes her." Goku trailed off before continuing in a whisper. "I feel like they just might be falling for each other." The excited grin of Earth-raised Saiyan was as wide and toothy as ever.

"Oh please, it's apparent that they're already wrapped up in teenaged infatuation. Just look at them." Vegeta rolled his eyes in what appeared to be disgust.

"You think so?" Goku looked toward his son again.

"I'm with Vegeta; it's pretty obvious…" Hotaru had snuck behind the two warriors to eavesdrop. She nodded. "Definitely some mutual feelings of attraction."

A low humming noise began to resonate in the room. The door was finally opening. The mechanisms in the door whirled and twirled for long seconds before it slowly opened, revealing that Dabura was behind door number three!

"Dabura?!" Shin seemed shocked that Dabura was already making an appearance.

Dabura's dark, raspy voice sounded, "I must say, I'm impressed, beating Yakon and advancing to stage three is far beyond what any other mortal has managed to do. It was quite unexpected. But now you must face me, which means you will progress no further."

The group of warriors looked at Dabura, new fire in their eyes, excitement for the new challenge. Shin saw this in the others and was feeling a plethora of emotions. First, he was scared for the safety of the universe. Second, he was still in shock from the earlier victories. And third, he felt like maybe there was hope that this threat would be defeated before it even began because of how shockingly powerful this groups of warriors are!

"Babidi must be nervous if he sent out his number one guy. Why doesn't he face us himself? He too scared?" Vegeta smirked as he mocked to wizard responsible for this whole event.

"Let's dispose of idle chat; I'd prefer if you attack. All of you, together." Dabura ignored Vegeta's taunt.

"Hey, hold on! We already arranged this!" Rini objected to the demon's suggestion.

"Yeah! It's our turn to fight and we plan to do just that!" Gohan gestured to himself and then Rini.

"Fools, so impudent."

"This place is way too small for a fight though. Maybe a secluded place in the mountains… or a nice spot on the beach… No, then there's the chance of sand in uncomfortable places." Hotaru had started off strong with her words but then trailed off into thought. "Oh! Maybe a glacier somewhere? Those are definitely open and unpopulated."

Most of the others in the room ignored Hotaru's words after the first bit about mountains. Dabura became notably more irritated by her ramblings. "You will fight me here and now!" The demon took a stance, preparing for an attack. Before leaping into action, however, Babidi's voice rang in the ears of his minion.

_"Actually, it's not a bad idea to have the fight somewhere else. To revive Majin Buu, we'll need the ship to be intact. Any preferences on location?"_

"A planet similar to this one is fine. I don't want any unfair advantage." Dabura's pointed teeth showed in his smirk as he replied to Babidi's voice.

Suddenly, a whirlwind of stars and the void of space spun around the room, disorienting the warriors momentarily as they tried to figure out where they were going. The whirling stopped soon and the group saw that they were now on a planet covered in rocky canyons and mountains; there was also a river not too far off.

"Let us begin then." Dabura invited the onslaught that followed his words. Rini and Gohan exchanged a glance and then they both rushed in for an attack. Gohan was much faster than Rini, but she came in for a flying kick as Dabura dodged Gohan's attacks. Dabura sidestepped Rini's offensive and grabbed her right leg as she flew by so that he could throw her off to the side of the fight. Gohan used his speed to get behind her and twisted with the momentum of her flying as he caught her.

"Ready?" Gohan asked Rini.

"Yes!" Rini replied, already knowing what Gohan meant. The hero used the momentum before it died to launch Rini back at Dabura at super speed! She brought energy to her fists and connected one punch to the demon's stomach. Though he only recoiled slightly and blocked her follow up move before he kicked her up into the sky. By the time Rini was sent into the air, Gohan was behind Dabura and the demon barely managed to avoid the Saiyan's energy blast. Gohan checked on Rini in his peripheral vision, worried she may have been hit too hard. But she was already coming back for more, granted she wasn't nearly as fast as either of them yet. Rini growled and materialized her Moon scepter.

"Moon Heart Attack!" She released the attacked before she got into Dabura's melee range. A bright light shot at the demon and Gohan, both dodging, but Gohan taking this moment as a chance to attack Dabura again.

The demon realized what the teens were up to. One was using the weakness of the other as an advantage. That way, the boy could use his impressive speed at the exact point in time when the demon was dodging or blocking to get more hits in and try to weaken their opponent. _A decent strategy, but not enough to make up for what she lacks._ Dabura's lips turned into a most sadistic smile as he glanced to where Rini was.

Gohan just sent a blast at Dabura and the demon was knocked back into a rocky mountain side that crumbled from the impact. The Saiyan took this moment to breathe and watched the pile of rubble for signs of movement. Rini flew to his side to look on at the rubble as well. Her breathing was already pretty haggard from the battle and it had only been a few minutes. Gohan knew she wasn't used to the high intensity of this kind of fight, so he worried. He looked over at her, noticing that she was already looking at him.

"There's no way he's down for the count…" Rini regulated her breathing again.

"Definitely not down… but I think he's starting to catch on to our plans." Gohan replied. Almost instantly, a yellow energy beam shot toward Rini. Gohan reacted immediately and tried to deflect the blast. He managed to knock most of it away, but his left arm was now lightly bloodied and his sleeve and glove were tattered.

Rini was bewildered. She knew she was outclassed. And while she didn't want to back down, she really didn't want to get in Gohan's way and cause him to get injured badly. She bit her bottom lip to fight back the frown brought on by a decision she felt she had to make. "Gohan… I think I'm going to back down and let you have this fight to yourself if you don't mind."

"Rini? Are you sure?" The young Saiyan was surprised by her sudden willingness to step down.

"Yes," she nodded, "I know that I'm not a match for him and I'm only serving as an extra body to worry about. I refuse to be the reason you can't fight at your full potential." Her pink hair was carried by a breeze passing through the alien canyon. She smiled and took Gohan's hand for a moment. "Do your best; I'll be standing with your dad and the others."

"I'll do my best. Oh… and thanks for the fun tag team. We should do that again sometime." Gohan smiled at her. He then looked down at their hands for a moment before she released his. "Thank you." While he hadn't specified what he was thanking her for, Rini knew. He was relieved she was backing down because he didn't want to risk her getting hurt. He worried and she was lifting the worry off of his shoulders. She descended to the ground and made it safely to where the others watched.

Hotaru greeted her friend's return with a hand on her shoulder and a smile. "You did well, Princess. I know you'll be much stronger after this."

"Yeah…" The scout's mind was distracted by the question of Gohan's safety now.

"I think you did a good job, too. Gohan's plenty strong to take on this guy. So don't stress it, 'kay?" Goku winked at the girl. Rini nodded, appreciating Goku's kind words.

_A_A_A_A_A_

On a distant planet, a young man looked up to the blue sky. He had felt a strange force spiking recently from the direction of the Milky Way galaxy. His long red ponytail rested on his back as he looked upward. His blue eyes narrowed as he focused. _That's got to be from Earth, right? _The thought had just crossed his mind as playground ball flew at his face. The young man had been so unprepared for the impact on his face that he reeled back, almost falling, but caught himself.

"What the hell, Yaten!?" He'd shouted this angrily. A man with long silvery white hair, also in a ponytail, grinned at him and then laughed.

"Stop dazing, Prince Hikin. You and the rest of the lights have been summoned by your mom. Seems there's a situation." Yaten, also known as Sailor Star Healer, rushed the young royal from the palace gardens and to the inner corridors of the castle, winding through the halls until coming to a large, ornate door. After a rhythmic knock from Yaten, the door was opened by the well-dressed Taiki, otherwise known as Sailor Star Maker.

"There you are." Taiki said to them as he answered. He adjusted his glasses before saying more, "The Queen and King have something very urgent to discuss with us."

"I think I know what this is in regards to…" Hikin's eyes stared into Taiki's eyes and they exchanged silent words before Taiki nodded.

"Dear Hikin, we were awaiting your entrance. Come closer, we need to explain the situation to you and your uncles." An enchanting voice belonging to the Queen of Kinmoku rang through the room. The prince looked over and saw his mother and father sitting on their respective thrones.

Yaten, Taiki and Hikin approached the seated Kakyu and Seiya. The seated couple stood up and Kakyu drew in a deep breath. She exhaled and then began to speak once more. "It seems like Earth is under threat of destruction once more. The first time in years. However, this time, the scouts won't be enough to stop it. Our seer has been feeling strange powers all focused in a certain location on the planet. The believed situation is that this is just the start of something much worse that could potentially reach us in this galaxy. And not just Kinmoku, not just the Milky Way galaxy, but the entire existence of life in the universe could be next." Her tone remained even but her concern was apparent. She cared very much for those on Earth in particular, the prince knew. His mother had fought alongside the scouts living there many years ago, and she often talked of how she missed them.

"Earth can't just stay safe for a decade, can it?" Yaten grumbled. "Seven years ago, it was close to being destroyed but thank the gods that someone managed to handle that issue!"

"The theory is that someone on Earth possesses such a great power that others are drawn to it in search of their own power. However, the seer doesn't believe it feels like a scout's powers." Taiki noted aloud for the others. "And if it isn't a scout, then what is it that has such great strength?"

"The great question remains," Seiya finally spoke, "how did something this powerful manage to sneak into the galaxy it now threatens? Those outer solar system scouts must be getting rusty at their guard duty." He folded his arms with gruff expression.

"Now, now, Seiya, be nice. I know you didn't get along with those three while you were there but you already know that the seer said the threat's power was not so great upon entry to the Milky Way." Kakyu waved a finger at her king.

As Yaten chuckled at Seiya's lecturing, Taiki turned his attention to Hikin. "To sum up what has been decided by the King and Queen, they feel you should go to Earth to check on things and offer assistance to our allies of the Milky Way. We can give you the teleport power and will await your word on what is going on. Should the situation become hopeless, you are to return here and help our galaxy to defend against the threat. Understood?"

Hikin looked at his uncle Taiki and nodded. "I understand. And I assume I am to be sent alone so that Kinmoku is not without protection from its greatest warriors?"

"That's right." Kakyu answered, stealing her son's gaze back. "I wish that more could be done to repay Queen Serenity for her courage many years ago, but I cannot afford to lose Kinmoku again after having it restored by the Cauldron. We will offer what we can while keeping our own home safe." She cast her eyes downward as if she felt bad for not being able to do more.

"Don't worry, mother, I'll do what I can to help." Hikin saluted his parents as they stood in front of him. Seiya looked at the young man; he stood proudly in his royal garments, armor, cape and all. Kakyu suddenly burst forward and hugged her son tightly, Seiya joining them and wrapping his arms around both of them. Yaten and Taiki stood a few feet away, allowing their brother to have a loving family moment.

"Give our regards to the Milky Way scouts. Especially to their queen. For she is still the brightest star and greatest hope we've ever known in this universe." Seiya told his son.

Hikin nodded toward his father as his parents released him. Then his uncles stepped up to form a circle around Hikin, completed by Kakyu and Seiya. Each focused their powers and then on the Earth. Before he knew it, the Prince of Kinmoku was standing in some sort of large structure, an arena of some sort. He heard loud cheers and a man's voice over a speaker congratulating a man named Hercule for holding on to his title for the World Martial Arts Champion. Hikin looked around, a bit dazed for a moment by the bright colors everywhere.

_Wow, this planet is much more beautiful than I was told._ He began to walk in the direction he felt scout energies. As he walked up a number of stairs and through a few hallways, he was in awe as he entered a huge stadium of humans. His eyes scanned the audience of humans until he pinpointed the signals of the scouts' crystals. His eyes focused now on the beautiful Queen of the Moon from about one hundred feet away.

C_C_C_C_C

Another thirty minutes had passed since Gohan had started his fight against Dabura and Vegeta had begun to get impatient, completely under the impression that Dabura was just playing and not actually fighting.

"I've had enough of this! Dabura just playing with him!" The Saiyan prince growled.

Rini didn't want to agree with that, but neither of the combatants had really broken a sweat yet. And they had to hurry to Majin Buu so that he couldn't be reawakened. The longer the two fought, the more energy would go to the monster.

"Vegeta, just calm down and let Gohan handle this." Goku assured his friend.

"I'm done waiting Kakarot! This is delaying our fight, in case you forgot, you only have one day back in the world of the living!"

"But…" Goku didn't know what to say.

Rini and Hotaru looked at one another and then at the two Saiyans. Shin spoke up. "Vegeta! While I understand the need to hurry, Gohan's doing what he can right now! If it takes too long, we can try to find a way into the deeper levels of Babidi's ship but until then we need to have faith in Gohan!" The Kai was determined to get to Majin Buu.

Vegeta crossed his arms as if to say that he didn't care. And everyone around him read just that from his body language. Dabura looked at the Saiyan prince.

The tension in the air was high and Rini didn't like it. She looked into the air at Gohan and hoped he would be okay. Dabura was clearly not fighting his hardest, but Gohan had gone to super Saiyan level, though she wasn't sure if it was level 1 or 2 right now. _You can do it, Gohan._

D_D_D_D_D

_"Master Babidi, one of their numbers seems to be in a foul mindset." _Babidi heard Dabura's voice in his head.

Babidi watched the group of fighters from his crystal ball. Dabura was doing fine, but he needed more energy to awaken Buu at full power. The outburst from one of the fighters had been interesting to Babidi. _He seems to have darkness in his heart._ Babidi thought for a moment. If he could use his magic on this fighter, maybe it would help accelerate the Buu-awakening process.

"_Dabura! You devilish genious! Oh, this could get us the energy we need for Buu." _Babidi sent a telepathic message to Dabura.

"_It could be just what we need. I'll return to the lower level, Master Babidi." _Dabura's gravelly voice spoke in Babidi's mind. The wizard then waved his hands around the crystal ball and said his magic words, "Pararapapa!"

E_E_E_E_E

Suddenly Dabura landed on the ground and the environment became the inside of the ship again.

"What? Why's everything going back to normal?" Gohan landed as well. Rini welcomed him to the floor and checked to make sure he was relatively unhurt.

"I don't know… but are you alright?" Rini answered Gohan as she put a hand on his shoulder. Looking up in his eyes, she waited a few moments for him to mentally exit battle mode. Gohan reverted to normal from super Saiyan form and looked back into Rini's eyes silently before he realized what was happening.

"Oh! Uh, yeah, I'm fine!" He shyly scratched the back of his neck. His bashfulness was coming back to him as some pink crept into his cheeks.

"Hey, what's the deal with this, Dabura? Giving up?" Goku asked the demon king.

"Not at all. It would seem Master Babidi has found us a new recruit. We need a little time to get him _up to speed_." And with that, the demon exited the door he had entered through earlier.

"What does he mean 'new recruit'?" Hotaru asked Shin. She looked toward the Kai with a bit more concern than she had held previously.

"I'm not sure. But I can't imagine who it might be if Dabura was called off to welcome them…" Shin was also very concerned. Goku had taken to loudly knocking at the door while Vegeta stood off the side of the room, away from everyone. The frown that the Saiyan prince wore was less than amused. He was still very annoyed.

Gohan and Rini joined Hotaru and Shin as Goku stood next to them as well. The group sighed together. Rini spoke up, "So… we have to wait again?"

End Chapter

**A/N: As always… sorry for the long delay between chapter releases. But here's chapter 19, all finished. Next one should be the start of Goku vs. Vegeta, the meeting of Prince Hikin and the scouts. And **_**possibly**_** ending with the awakening of Buu.**


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